Joan M. Brown

Joan M. Brown, 77, of Vancouver, Washington passed away Saturday, 13 September 2014 after a brave struggle with cancer. She is survived by her husband of 53 years, Philip; daughter Olivia Swibies of Las Vegas, Nevada; son Kevin of New York, New York; and son Anthony of Portland, Oregon, who is father of her three grandchildren, Jacqueline, Josephine and Rachel Brown.

Joan was born the youngest of three children on 7 April 1937 to Cyril Theodore Victor (“Fred”) and Violet Kearsley in Kingston Upon Thames (London), England. During the war, she was evacuated from London, after which she and her mother and father resided at Yew Tree Cottage in Hampshire, her cherished childhood home with its lovely garden. As a teenager, she returned to London and was employed in the salon of John Cavanaugh, where she participated in the production of his “Coronation” collection of 1953. Later, she served in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, where she was posted to Tripoli, Libya, during the Suez Crisis.

In 1959, Joan emigrated to the United States under the sponsorship of her cousin Alex Wootton of Clarksville, Tennessee, where she lived and worked at the local hospital. Later, she traveled to Lubbock, Texas, where she met Philip. After a three-day courtship in late August of 1961, Philip and Joan were engaged, and on the 29th of September, married at St. Paul’s on the Plains Episcopal Church. The family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1970 and later settled in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area in 1983. Throughout this time, Joan continued to employ the skills she learned in her youth, working at local hospitals and medical laboratories, and dressmaking and tailoring for friends and family, including the construction of wedding gowns for both her daughter, and Jennifer, the wife of her son Anthony.

For the last 25 years, Joan partnered with her husband in his tax and accounting services business. She particularly enjoyed developing and tending her garden and the visits she received from her beloved grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Vancouver on Wednesday, 24 September at 4:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please make a memorial donation to the American Cancer Society.

Arrangements under the direction of Vancouver Funeral Chapel, Vancouver, WA.