Gail Brown Milner

1938 - 2012

Longtime Fort Worth resident Gail Brown Milner died unexpectedly Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, while staying at a health resort in Durham, N.C. She was 74. Service: A private celebration of her life is being planned for later this week. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in honor of Gail Brown Milner to the Jay Milner Distinguished Journalism Student Awards Endowment at the Schieffer School of Journalism, Texas Christian University, Box 298060, Fort Worth, Texas 76129. She was a Texas girl through and through. Born March 7, 1938, in Austin to longtime Fort Worth residents Lorraine and William M. Brown, she grew up on Fort Worth's Alton Road, attending Alice Carson Elementary School, McLean Junior High School, R.L. Paschal High School (Class of 1956) and TCU, where she was a Pi Phi. She later worked at TCU in various capacities, including as an administrative assistant to David Murph in the Church Relations Department. She came from a family of lawyers and ranchers. Her grandfather Jesse M. Brown in 1922 founded what would become one of Fort Worth's major law firms, known for many years as Brown, Herman. Her father joined the firm in 1940, serving as managing partner until his death in 1987. And she herself for many years was court coordinator for Probate Judge Bob Burnett and served as a grand juror. In 2003 she became a joint owner of Mary's Creek Ranch, just west of Fort Worth, acquired by her grandfather and father in 1947. Though she herself was more a city girl, she loved spending time at the ranch, instilling her children and grandchildren with a love of the land and a strong sense of the family's heritage. Gail was as high-spirited as she was beautiful -- youthful and vibrant her entire life. She was a voracious reader, an avid Texas Rangers fan and a self-proclaimed yellow dog Democrat. She had a quick wit and generous heart, and loved to laugh and have a good time with her many friends and large family. Some of her favorite memories were from her annual trips to the white sandy beaches of Watercolor, Fla., with her children and grandchildren. She will be dearly missed. She was preceded in death by her husband of 28 years, Texas writer Jay Dunston Milner, who died Dec. 11, 2011; and her stepgrandson, Benjamin Boyd, in 2007. Survivors: Daughters, Susannah Touzel of Aledo, Stacy Hollis of Fayetteville, Ark., and Kate Strainick of Fort Worth; sister, Cindy Brown Ronveaux of Nashville; grandchildren, Thomas Strainick, John Strainick, Lily Hollis, Claire Hollis, Samuel Strainick and Elizabeth Simoneau; stepchildren, Donna Milner Reynolds, Pettis Milner and Carter Milner Brakefield; and stepgrandchildren, Milner Boyd, Jay Brakefield and Peter Graf.