Jean Marie Brown

1925 - 2023

BORN

1925

DIED

2023

About

University of Chicago

Jean Brown Obituary

Jean Marie Brown
March 24, 1925 - October 21, 2023
It is easier to rest in peace if you write your own obituary.
I want to thank my mother, Mary Peto, for nurturing me with her delicious and nutritious Hungarian cooking, and my father, Walter O'Leary, for laboring so hard to put food on the table. And for giving me my beloved sister, Barbara, so I could practice being a mother myself.
My narrow vision was expanded by Robert Maynard Hutchins at the University of Chicago. He introduced a program that required students to take survey courses in the sciences and humanities that included subjects I would never have selected by myself.
My gratitude to Bruno Bettelheim is inexpressible. He hired me to be a counselor at the University of Chicago Orthogenic School in 1944. There, the understanding I gained of myself and of the disturbed children we worked with has guided my whole life.
I believe this enabled me to enjoy 50 years of happy marriage to Harry Barnett Brown, or "Herschel Baruch Bronov," which would have been his name had his parents not emigrated from Russia. We agreed on everything that was important, and his loving and loyal support provided me with the security I needed. Our greatest pleasure was our three children, David, Dore, and Tony (Anthony) Brown. They are the most beautiful and brilliant children in the world.
I also want to thank Laura Strand, Gene Thurston, and Gina Grant for providing me with my loveable and talented grandchildren, Michelle and Shannon Brown, Genevieve and Nicholas Thurston, and Rocky Ellis Brown.
In 1978, Harry and I introduced the first bed and breakfast reservation service for private homes in the United States. Bed and Breakfast International succeeded with the help of Barbara Nelson, Barbara Bull, and Helen Tryon. We made careful reservations for each host and guest according to their needs and consideration for the neighborhood. It was a rewarding experience for all.
My cousins, Harry's Boston relatives, and my lifelong friends know how important and helpful they were to me. The El Cerrito and Oakland Democratic Clubs gave my life purpose and meaning. Singing and folk music added entertainment.
I am so glad we moved to Piedmont Gardens Retirement Community in 2002. My fellow residents made the last years of my life interesting and enjoyable.
Finally, I want to thank Martin Huff for bringing me laughter, pleasure, and companionship after Harry died. Who would have thought that life could begin again at 86? That should give everyone something to look forward to.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Dec. 7, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Jean Brown

3 Entries

Emily Anne Di Capua

December 3, 2024

My mother, Anne Healy Di Capua, worked with Jean to run a Room with a View San Francisco Bed and Breakfast when I was a young child. I remember so clearly learning the intricacies of hosting from my mom as we laid out a breakfast spread for guests before heading off to pre-school and then kindergarten. My parents stressed the importance of interacting with adults and often my younger sister and I would engage with the guests before dinner as the sun set through the Golden Gate Bridge and over the bay. After guests departed I would pore over our guest book, cherishing the comments inscribed as I wondered about the far off states our guests had traveled from. Guest books remain a tradition in our home to this day. Thank you Jean for seeing the unique magic in home-stays and for encouraging my mom to become a host despite my mom's initial worry that guests may not want young children around on their travels. My sister and I are proof that families could provide a true "home away from home" feeling.

I will follow this up with my most treasured photo of me, my mom and my sister. It was taken by one of our Bed and Breakfast International guests!

Marco Di Capua

June 8, 2024

Jean Brown was warm human relations perfectionist. She got my spouse Anne, who died shortly after Jean died, started in the Bead and Breakfast business with our property in San Francisco an addition we had just finished with a sweeping view of San Francisco Bay. Those were the days before internet email Venmo abd zelle so fax machines and checks kept the business going. Her quality control was gentle yet effective so hosts like us strove to make sure guests , abd therefore Jean was satisfied with their stays. How guests energized my spouse Jean will never know. Consistently every time guests left it was a new experience and a new high for us. I am certain that Jean and Anne are in heaven reminiscing about a Room with a View, her trophy property and Anne her star host in San Francisco.

Dan Kalb

February 6, 2024

I will miss Jean tremendously. She was always a do´er, not merely a talker. She worked tirelessly to support candidates for office who she wholeheartedly believed in.
She cared about helping people beyond her immediate world.
May her memory be a blessing and an inspiration,

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