Nancy Hellinghausen Brown

Nancy Hellinghausen Brown was born February 25, 1964, in Breckenridge, Texas. She passed away on March 31, 2011, after a courageous battle with cancer. Nancy attended St. Ann’s Catholic School in Midland, and was the last of eight siblings to attend Lee High School, graduating in 1982. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987, and was selected to participate in the University's prestigious Shakespeare at Winedale program in 1986. In 2006, Nancy received a Master of Arts in English from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, where she was also named Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year. Nancy's poetry won recognition in the university’s journal Sandstorm, a literary publication of which she became editor in 2006. Early in her career, Nancy served as both marketing manager and author promotions manager for Barnes & Noble in New York City, and later in Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, California. She returned to West Texas in 2005, where, after attending UTPB, she served as the Director of Public Relations for Midland College from 2007 through 2010. She also served on the board of “Keep Midland Beautiful”. Nancy's interests and accomplishments were many, and she had a deep and abiding passion for them all: she was a Master Gardener, an accomplished ceramicist, art collector, avid reader and critic, poet, gourmet cook and seamstress. In 2010, Nancy moved to Lubbock to marry Allan D. Brown, where she continued to write feature stories for Midland College. During her last year, she and her husband shared a life and love that few have the good fortune to experience. She was a beautiful woman with a radiant smile, an extraordinary intelligence, and a rapier wit; Nancy thoroughly enjoyed the life of the mind. She is survived by her husband, Allan Brown, of Lubbock; her parents, Don and Marjorie Hellinghausen, of Midland; and her seven siblings, Mary Schlecht and husband Jim, of Chickasha, Oklahoma, Michael Hellinghausen and wife Linda, of Dallas, Ann Rusnak and husband Joe, of Midland, Jane Hellinghausen and husband Glen Aaron, of Midland, Elizabeth Zenteno and husband Blas, of Midland and Santiago, Chile, Sara Welch and husband Pat, of Midland, and John Hellinghausen, of Houston. A vigil will take place at St. Ann’s Catholic Church, at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, April 5, 2011. A Catholic funeral Mass will follow on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 10:30 a.m., at St. Ann’s. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Midland College, directed to the Davidson Distinguished Lecture Series, or the Arts Program: www.midland.edu, under the tab “Make a Gift to MC.” Arrangements are under the direction of Ellis Funeral Home. Condolences may be offered at www.ellisfunerals.com.