Ella Gray Brown

Ella Gray Brown, 91, of Davenport, passed away January 13, 2016, at The Alverno Health Care Facility in Clinton, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 2:00 pm at the Runge Mortuary. The family will greet friends Sunday from 1 pm until the service, at the funeral home. Private burial will be in the National Cemetery, Rock Island, IL. Memorials may be made to The Alverno Health Care Facility in Clinton. Online condolences may be left at www.rungemortuary.com. Ella was born November 15, 1924, in Fulton Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Alexander and Addie (Jamison) Taylor. She married John “Don” Donald Brown on October 28, 1944, in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania. While Ella’s husband Don served in the Navy during World War II, Ella did her part to help with the war effort. She worked with equipment like drill presses, tapping machines, and engine lathes to make small shafts for airplane engines. She was our own “Rosie the Riveter”, she’d always say. After the war, Ella and her husband settled in the Greene, New York, area for 32 years. They then moved to Davenport, Iowa, to be closer to their daughter Martha “Molly” Brown and help raise her daughters. Ella was a spitfire who told it like she saw it. She was also the Brown family matriarch. It will be hard for her family without her, but if she taught us anything, it’s to strive to do our best, to not let silly things (or people) get in the way, and to love our family as immensely and devotedly as she did. Survivors include sons Daniel C. Brown of Springfield, Illinois; David J. Brown of Hamburg, New York; and John L. Brown of Delano, Minnesota; and daughter Martha “Molly” Brown of Clinton, Iowa. She is also survived by 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, and two step great- grandchildren.