Jacqueline "Jackie" Brown

Jacqueline "Jackie" Brown was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend. She lived an amazing 99 years and passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

Jackie was born in Clinton, IN to Christine and Alexander "Sandy" McLaren Strachan. She had one sibling, her beloved younger sister, Sylvia.

In her early years, mama moved with her family to California. She grew up going to the beach, primarily Santa Monica, where they lived. She had some not-so-great memories of beach life, but the majority were happy ones, including jumping off the cliffs of Santa Monica and dancing with her sister and grandmother at the Aragon Ballroom, which later became known as where the Lawrence Welk show broadcast weekly. She grew up with some of the best music ever and that love of music continued throughout her life. She loved movies, mostly the classics and musicals, and if we ever had a question as to who was in what movie, she could handily tell you. We can never watch Singin’ In the Rain without a big smile on our faces, thinking of her.

She was a collector of MANY things, including many sentimental items that she held onto dearly from people she loved and who meant so much to her. Probably her most treasured of items, though, was her vast collection of dolls. We treasure that we still have her Patsy Ann—her most cherished doll, given to her by her grandmother Myra.

Jackie was always a hard worker. Her mom moved around a lot so in addition to maintaining high marks in school, she lived with a couple of families during her later high school years as a “mother’s helper” doing all types of domestic chores so that she could stay at her alma mater, Manual Arts High School.

As a young adult, she held different jobs having worked at a photography studio, the Gas Company and our favorite, Douglas Aircraft Co. because that’s where she met our wonderful dad. He was immediately smitten—it’s no wonder why, she was quite the beauty! He wasn’t too bad himself! After a little over a year of courtship, mom and dad married on February 24, 1946. Not quite 2 years later, they welcomed their first of three children, Diane, followed by Chris and bringing up the rear, Laurie.

Toward the end of her working years, mom was a school secretary for a couple of different elementary schools, including Valinda Elementary and Grandview Elementary & Middle School. Her longest tenure was at Northam Elementary School. She was much loved and appreciated by students and staff wherever she worked for her caring heart and strong work ethic. When mom quit working to join dad in retirement, it took 2 people to replace her to get the job done that she alone did!

She was also quite the crafter. She sewed, decoupaged, made shadow boxes, creatively framed artwork—all kinds of pretty things. She even got dad into the act utilizing his woodworking skills making doll chairs, magazine racks, cradles, clam baskets and other woodcraft for her myriad projects. She and Diane both had an affinity for making beautiful things and they sold their wares at Covina Park for years as well as selling on consignment to various stores.

She was an amazing baker. She baked such yummy goodies, including cookies, pies (the best lemon merinque and pumpkin pies), cakes, and quick breads to name a few. She was an incredibly gifted cake decorator. She lovingly baked weddings cakes for her children's weddings, including countless other wedding, birthday, and retirement cakes. She even made those granulated, panoramic sugar eggs for Easter. Her cakes were not only works of art, but they also tasted every bit as delicious as they were beautiful. It brought her joy to share these gifts of love with her family and friends.

In addition to her legacy of love and talent, what also has made an indelible impression on her family, friends and so many others is the way she handled adversity, especially as it related to the physical challenges she faced. She had to have a pacemaker and a 6-way bypass heart surgery at the age of 73, a laminectomy for severe spinal stenosis and cataract surgery in her early to mid 80's, as well as intense chemotherapy prior to having major bladder cancer surgery followed up by a second round of chemo and surgery at the tender age of 89! She’s even in The American Journal of Medicine for undergoing clinical trials with chemotherapy and for someone of her advanced age! To top it off, if that weren’t enough, she had hip replacement surgery around 92 years of age. Through it all, she handled them with grace. She was an example of tenacity and strength, truly an inspiration!

There’s so much more that could be said but, if you were to ask what was most important to her, that would be her family and the people in her life and the love of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We love her so much and miss her terribly but rejoice knowing that our parting is only temporary. "Well done good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of the Lord."

Jackie was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Barton "Bart" Brown and beloved daughter, Diane Colucci. Jackie is survived by her son Chris, daughter Laurie Dunne (Jeff), son-in-law Pat Colucci, granddaughter Dena (Colucci) Henderson, grandson Matt Colucci, great grandson Dalton Henderson, great granddaughters Cameryn Colucci and Mia Colucci; and many loved cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.OakdaleMortuaryGlendora.com for the Brown family.