Marcia McCormick Brown

Marcia McCormick Brown, 73

February 20, 1948 – October 08, 2021

Marcia McCormick Brown died peacefully on October 8, 2021 at age 73. She was born February 20, 1948 to Walter "Mac" McCormick and Cecilia McCormick and was raised in Billings, Montana. She attended the University of Montana in Missoula.

Marcia met Dave Brown while they were both living and working in Washington, D.C. and they were married in 1973. The couple had two children, Mac and Meredith. Marcia was dedicated to her family throughout her life, helping her many nieces and nephews whenever and however she could with her husband Dave in addition to providing a supporting and loving home for her children. Throughout her life, she made countless trips in Montana, Washington state and Maryland to keep in close contact with her family and her home in Butte was always a stopping point for any trip by family members that brought them within 100 miles of Butte. She and her sister Adoreen took many cruises (sometimes with additional family), visiting a variety of locations across the U.S. and the world and exploring the many cities and towns that those travels took them to. In her later years, she was dedicated to her grandchildren and loved seeing them whenever she could, was strongly proud of their accomplishments and always bought far too many presents for them, regardless of any agreement with their parents beforehand. Marcia also had a strong community of friends in Butte and on the East Coast, who will miss her quick sense of humor and positive attitude. She stayed in touch with them on the phone and frequently met them at favorite spots like the Uptown Cafe, catching up on everyone's lives and families as well as traveling frequently with them.

Marcia had a varied career that was always focused on helping people live better lives. She began her career working in Senator Lee Metcalf's office in Washington, D.C., where she worked on legislation and helped to meet the needs of his constituents in Montana. After taking a break to raise her children, she then worked in Representative Pat Williams' field office in Butte, MT, again helping people in Butte and across the state. She was always very active in local and state politics, not only helping on her husband Dave's campaigns for state office and Representative Williams' campaigns, but being an active force in the Montana Democratic Party in her own right. She was at one time the chairwoman of the Butte-Silver Bow Democratic Party, was responsible for organizing state-wide candidate events in Butte for several years and also ran the Shillelagh Shindig during that time. She spent the last 20+ years of her career working at the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), where she was the Chief Operating Officer. During her time at NCAT, she also served as a member on the Montana Coal Board. She was passionate about the work that NCAT did, as well as about her coworkers there and loved both the work and her coworkers dearly.

Marcia was always very active in her community in ways that were not always visible to her family or friends. She was a great supporter of Butte's homeless community, helping to set up the Butte Foodbank in its early days and tirelessly working for donations in those early years. She had a special affinity for young mothers in difficult circumstances in particular and both donated to and worked with the Butte homeless shelter throughout her life. In addition, she spent time with individuals talking about their circumstances and helping them to get themselves established and search for jobs as well as providing monetary support to the organizations that helped them.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Dave, her brother Burke McCormick and her sisters, Adoreen McCormick, Peggy Downey, Sheila Helmer and Maureen McCormick. She is survived by her son Mac, her daughter-in-law Frances, their children Asher and Josie, her daughter Meredith, her son-in-law Shane and their children Ian and Samantha and her many nieces, nephews and extended family.

Friends and family are invited to gather to celebrate Marcia's life in a ceremony at Duggan Dolan Mortuary at 1 p.m. (1805 Meadowlark Lane) and at a reception afterwards which will be held at 3 p.m. at the Butte Copper King Inn at 4655 Harrison Ave in Butte. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations, in Marcia's honor, to the Butte Food Bank, the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) or a charity of your choice. For everyone's safety, the family requests the use of masks.