Mrs. Barbara Brown passed away peacefully on May 1, 2024, at her residence in Virginia Beach, VA. She was born on June 21, 1962, in North Charleston, SC, to the late Homer and Katherine Lewis. She was a 1981 graduate of R.B. Stall High School with a higher education in early childhood development. She was a Navy wife who traveled from duty station to duty station with her husband and children. On June 16, 1993, she married Raymond A. Brown in Virginia Beach, VA. While married to a Junior Sailor, Barbara would do odd jobs to help to provide for the family needs by being an in-home day care provider or retail associate at Best Buy of HQ. While residing in Providence, RI, Barbara was employed at Brown University campus bookstore as a Sales Associate and eventually advancing to Lead Sales Manager. When her family was stationed in Northfield, N.J., she pursued her passion for working with children by working at Creative Learning, a pre-school in Linwood, N.J., developing and teaching children. Upon returning to Hampton Roads for the 2nd time she was hired as a teacher at Early Learning pre-school where she managed to have her oldest granddaughter attend also. Barbara retired from Early Learning pre-school in 2008 and became a stay-at-home Mom and Grandmom providing day care for her grandchildren. She was blessed to see all eleven grandchildren and provide day care for nine of them. Barbara loved to cook, garden and had a caring heart but most importantly she loved her family and she showed that every day.
Left to cherish her memory are her loving husband of 31 years, Raymond A. Brown; 3 children, Shavonya Veney (Dashuan), Raul Lewis, Raymond Brown, II and stepdaughter, Britany Wilson (Avery); 3 brothers, Homer, Nathaniel, and Mark; 3 sisters Jeanette, Loretta, and Lapatricia; and 11 grandchildren, Tyleeyah, Malayah, Naleeyah, Ny’Asia, Janylah, Kamiya, Kamari, Izayah, A.J., Trinity, and Ameerah. Also, she leaves behind her best friend of over 50 years, Mrs. Alfreda Dinkins-Reid.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 pm on Friday, May 10, 2024, at Smith & Williams Funeral Home, Kempsville Chapel with a visitation 1 hour prior to the service. The committal service will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday, May 14 at A.G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veteran’s Cemetery. You may offer condolences at www.smithandwilliamskempsville.com
