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Mary Elizabeth (Beth) Brown, born August 22, 1958, in Cincinnati, passed away peacefully on October 28, 2025, at Saint Joe’s (formerly St. Joseph Home), Sharonville. She was the fourth child of Lois Marie and John Francis Brown, whose older children were Mike, Katie, and Andy.Beth lived her life with pervasive needs. She could not walk, talk, or feed herself. But she was a unique person and, in her own way, demanded to be seen and valued as the person she was. Her joy was palpable. A big smile. Bright eyes. A laugh that carried across the room and down the hall. The trigger might be the voice of a dear friend. A touch. A whisper. Another’s laugh. A line from her favorite poem. Or knowing that dessert was close at hand. One knew when Beth was happy.Peggy Smith, a 30-year employee on the nursing staff, summed it up: “That laugh. That giggle. Always warmed my heart.”She had intentions and personality, and she could make them known even without words. She had clear likes and dislikes in matters of food, activities, music, and people. She liked life. She wanted to connect with most people, often in direct eye-to-eye contact. Beth was also a mystery. Try as we might, we could not really know her heart and her mind. It seemed there was more to know and understand about Beth, but there were invisible barriers that none of us could cross. Beth appealed to the better angels of our nature that we might have the patience, empathy, and love to care for her. She called on our humanity to respect her dignity. Over the years, many have answered this call, some heroically. We are grateful to them all.When Beth was born, she seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of her brothers and sister before her. There was no apparent reason to think otherwise. She was perky and cheery. But there came signs that her development might be delayed, and the signs accumulated, and the accumulated signs grew into concerns.Local doctors either dismissed these concerns or recommended that Beth be institutionalized. For Lois and John, neither response was satisfactory. So, they embarked on a national search for medical experts to counsel them. They settled on The Institute for the Development of Human Potential in Philadelphia and subscribed fully to the Institute’s program to improve Beth’s neurological functioning. The program included visual, tactile, and auditory stimulation and masking to increase her intake of carbon dioxide, but its key element was patterning therapy. Patterning therapy involved the synchronized movement of Beth’s head, arms, and legs in a manner intended to mimic crawling. Patterning required a team of three people, which increased to five people as Beth grew stronger. It was a labor-intensive, community effort.Lois tirelessly organized family, friends, and neighbors to help pattern Beth in 15-minute sessions, four times per day, seven days a week, for years. Beth’s care and therapies became an integral part of family life. Complicating matters was John’s business travel, which often meant that he was away Monday through Friday for several weeks each month. Nonetheless, Lois and John encouraged their children to pursue extracurricular activities and willingly incorporated those activities into an already hectic schedule. It seemed that no challenge was too great for Lois and John. They were willing to cope or at least try. Progress for Beth was slow and generally not sustained, despite the family’s earnest efforts. The challenges of her developmental delays were more intractable than the Institute expected, and it recommended a Philadelphia-based pediatric neurosurgeon of national repute, Eugene Spitz. Lois and John came to believe that brain surgery—in 1964 and 1965—was the best alternative. The outcomes fell far short of what they had hoped for.In 1967, Lois and John decided that Beth’s best future would be with an Italian order of Catholic nuns, the Canossian Daughters of Charity, who had created Casa Angelica in Albuquerque, New Mexico to serve those “most in need.” Beth lived in their loving embrace until 1992, when a change in Casa Angelica’s mission disqualified her from continued residence. Lois and John learned that the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati might hold a local option for Beth at St. Joseph Home. Sr. Marianne Van Vurst, the director at the time, and Sr. Lynn Heper, her assistant, flew to Albuquerque to evaluate Beth’s suitability for the home, and the rest is history. The sisters accompanied their new “little sister” back to Cincinnati and welcomed her to Cottage 5, also known as the Fab Five. Beth lived there comfortably for 30 years with a roommate and six other cottage-mates. Over time, however, the soundscape changed as more of her cottage-mates relied on medical monitors whose beeps and alarms (and consequent responses by staff) irritated Beth, who had grown older and perhaps somewhat irritable. So, in 2022, she relocated to Cottage 6, where she was happier. Beth—also known as Bethie, Beth Brown, Miss Beth Brown, Brownie, and, in her later years, Granny—received round-the-clock daily living assistance from caregivers assigned to her cottage. A cadre of nurses provided medical attention and coordinated as needed with the medical director to insure the appropriate medical care was provided either on- or off-site.Important as these custodial matters were for Beth, no less important were the possibilities for meaningful engagement with people and activities for experiencing life. Over the years, there have been outlets for such opportunities. First and foremost were the direct caregivers, the nurses, and the doctors who committed themselves to more than just the essentials of care. They are the unsung heroes whose gifts to Beth and to the family were invaluable. Second were the active caregivers who engaged Beth at the Kidd Center and then at the Blue Ash Day Program with its outdoor garden as well as activities for residents of the home. There were social events for birthdays, proms (in which Beth was once the queen), Halloween (in which Beth was a witch, a raggedy Ann doll, among others), and Christmas. There were outings for field trips, shopping, concerts, plays, and dining with family members. And sometimes for memorial events including funeral services for John, Lois, and Andy. Some caregivers took a special liking to Beth. As these connections took root, they flourished not only at St. Joe’s but sometimes in extracurriculars such as shopping, holiday visits, and dinners. Visitors were welcome of course. Most frequent was Katie who fondly remembers walking the Nature Loop with Phil and Beth during Covid. “We would stop along the path and read poems (her favorites & those provided in reading materials made available at the overlook). Beth seemed to enjoy these outings. When we would stop at a bench, she liked looking at the sky, especially when the clouds were moving due to the wind.”As we mourn Beth’s passing, we also celebrate her life and thank the many people and organizations who have come to her side over more than six decades. Beth is survived by her brother Mike (Mary) Brown, sister Katie Brown (Phil Obermiller), sister-in-law Barb (Andy Brown, 1954-2025), and nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. The family will hold a private funeral service.In lieu of flowers, donations in Beth’s memory may be sent to Saint Joe’s, 10722 Wyscarver Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45241: https://stjoescincy.org/ Online condolences may be expressed on the website of Geo. H. Rohde & Son Funeral Home: www.rohdefuneral.com.

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