Mary Evelyn Brown

Mary Evelyn Brown, 84, passed away on November 29, 2025, in Norfolk, VA. She was born June 9, 1941. She was the daughter of the late Johnnie Sr. and Mary Knight. She was predeceased by her husband, Cherry Brown, and her brother, Johnnie Knight Jr.

Evelyn was the matriarch of the family and loved her family immensely. She expressed her love through her cooking and her willingness to help at any time. She was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, then worked as a domestic worker and caregiver for the children of several families around the city of Norfolk. Mary was a meticulous housekeeper and kept a pristine home. Family remembers her sweeping lines into the dirt when the sidewalk ended, scrubbing the walls after every shower, and bartering favorite meals with grandchildren if they would dust the house! She was known by many in Roberts Park, as she lived there for nearly forty years. She passionately raised her children, helped raise her grandchildren, not to mention countless other members of her extended family.

Her fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and sweet potato pie were legendary. She was an exceptional cook and never complained about cooking from sunup to sundown when friends and family requested her pies during the holidays. She was a lover of oldie-but-goodie music and would cut a rug at any reunion or celebration. The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful were mainstays on her TV set.

Known for her generosity and kindness to strangers, she created safe and welcoming spaces for neighbors and friends throughout her life. This continued even into her later years when she resided in Bobbitt Senior Citizen Midrise. Her warm personality made apartment 205W a spot where everyone would come by for conversation, good food, or to buy postage stamps. Through her life, she engaged in civic volunteering, serving as a faithful voting poll worker, a Sergeant in Arms for the Bobbit Advisement Council, as well as acting as a de facto event coordinator for community gatherings. In her younger years, she was feisty, and in her older years, if you cut up, she might tap you good with her cane!

In 2024, a book about her mother and the extraordinary circumstances of Evelyn's birth was published. Among numerous other awards, Room Swept Home-dedicated to Evelyn, after her hours of interviews about her early life, won the L.A. Times Book Prize.

She leaves a host of friends and family members to cherish her memory, including her sons, Leon Knight (Sherry) and Michael Brown (Patricia) as well as her daughter, Deborah Anderson (Marcus). She also leaves nine grandchildren (Corey, Reggie, Shavon, Ciara, Marcus, D'Andrea, Laron, Matteo, and Nicole) and twelve great-grandchildren. She also leaves five siblings (Lawrence Knight, Shirley Williams, Carolyn Wyatt, Eunice Eubanks, and Doris Bingham) as well as their spouses, many nieces, nephews, and extended family members. She is fiercely loved and will be deeply missed.

Viewing: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Metropolitan Funeral Service 120 W. Berkley Avenue Norfolk, VA
Celebration of Life: COME IN PERSON OR WATCH ONLINE Thursday, December 11, 2025 11:00 AM Metropolitan Funeral Service 120 W. Berkley Avenue Norfolk, VA
Laid to Rest: Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery 5310 Milners Road Suffolk, VA