Mrs. Muriel J. Brouwer

Muriel was born in Woody, California, to Frank and Christine Jameson. Muriel

met Robert Brouwer in San Francisco when Robert was a handsome sailor

stationed at Fort Mason and she a beautiful young woman who left Cal Berkeley

to work at the Marin Shipyards during the war. They married in 1943 and

moved to Los Gatos in 1950.

Robert and Muriel owned and operated Village Floor Coverings of Los Gatos

until the late 1960s. After Bob retired from the labor intensive floor covering

business in the late 60s, Muriel opened Accent on Rugs of Los Gatos. Muriel

was unique to the handmade rug business at the time. Her consummate taste,

honesty and business integrity brought success in a field long dominated

exclusively by men. Shortly before retiring and moving to the Rogue Valley

Manor in Medford, Oregon, in 1995, Muriel passed on her business savvy to her

son Philip, who operated Accent on Rugs until his retirement in 2011. Shortly

after Muriel’s and Bob’s move to Oregon, Muriel encouraged and guided her

daughter Susan to open another successful handmade rug shop in Medford, A

Rug for All Reasons.

Muriel was devoted to the arts, especially music, and was a financial supporter

of the symphony and chamber music groups that she loved, as well as many

other worthy organizations. She was also an avid reader and loved books and

publications that were enriching and inspiring. She was a lover of beauty, which

was reflected in her beautiful rug shop, her dress, the things she was interested

in. She was a savvy businesswoman guided by personal integrity and style. She

was also modest and quiet, in spite of her accomplishments. A unique and

complex woman, Muriel also loved camping outdoors and sleeping in a tent,

cooking over an open fire, playing the harmonica with her children.

Her children describe her as beautiful, idealistic, romantic, hard-working,

determined, fragile but tough at the same time, a complex but loving mother.

Muriel Brouwer died peacefully at the Rogue Valley Manor after a short illness at

age 100. Her adoring husband Robert predeceased her in 2009. Muriel is

survived by her three children, Susan, Douglas and Philip, along with six

grandchildren and two great grandchildren.