Pauline Stewart Brown

Pauline Stewart Brown Pauline Gladys Stewart Brown, 81, sang her last solo at Sweet Home Baptist Church on the 23rd of August, her singing reaching beyond the church to neighbors who recognized her joyous voice. Her song echoed those that her mother had told her about, when in the early days of Clarksville, the women would start their days outdoors and one would start a song, such as, "Soon in the morning when I rise, Give me Jesus", then others would join in. She was hospitalized the following Wednesday, and was called to her Lord on Thursday, August 27, 2009. Her family, church and community will miss her, and will always remember her voice and her life. Pauline Brown, third child of Archie and Clara Carrington Stewart, was born July 29, 1928 at their home in Wheatsville, and moved to Clarksville in 1942. Her father worked in construction, and was known for his baseball prowess. The family attended Sweet Home Baptist Church where her mother sang solos with the choir. During WW II, a young Clarksville man began a correspondence with her. When he got out of the service, it was Pauline that he wanted to date. She had graduated from L. C. Anderson High School by then, and on October 23, 1946, Eugene "Bubba" Brown and Pauline Stewart were married at Sweet Home Baptist Church. The four room home at 1905 West 11th Street that they bought was eventually remodeled into nine rooms. Bubba worked at Enfield Food Mart, later at Slaughter's Grocery on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Their first child, Paulette, born in 1949, called "Pumpkin" because of her Halloween birthday, lives with disabilities as a result of cerebral palsy. Their sons, Eugene and Archie, were born in 1953 and 1957. Pauline's world was changed forever on October 21, 1964 when her husband Bubba died of a massive heart attack. They were expecting their fourth child, RuthAnn, born on March 22, 1965. Her parents, neighbors and friends helped her through this difficult time. By 1968, Pauline and her neighbors learned that about a third of Clarksville, a historic black community, was needed as right of way for the new MoPac Boulevard, and that Pauline's home was to be taken. The planned Crosstown Expressway could destroy the rest of Clarksville in a few years time. Streets in Clarksville were still mainly dirt roads that the city had not paved. Pauline and her neighbors held meetings, went to City Council meetings, and worked with lawyers to file lawsuits to delay the MoPac construction and get adequate compensation for those whose homes were being taken. Pauline became a community leader, spending countless hours to protect her beloved Clarksville and its history. Although she lost her home, she built another and remained in Clarksville. The Crosstown Expressway plan was cancelled, and through government programs, help came to Clarksville, often slow, and never enough. Her daughter RuthAnn remembers a trip her mother made to Washington, D.C., in order to help secure government funding for paving and drainage work needed desperately in Clarksville. In 1972 Pauline went to work for the City Health Department and was at several city clinics over her 20 plus years with the city. She was a founder, and served for many years as president, of the Clarksville Community Development Corporation (CCDC) formed in 1978 to provide at least some affordable housing for lower income residents displaced by "gentrification". The Heritage Society of Austin honored her in 2002 with a "Preservation Merit Award for Advocacy in the Clarksville Community". A few years ago, she said, "Looking back over my life, I can see that many people in Clarksville have caused things to change for the better. I'm proud to be one of those people. What some people might call hell raising I call getting things done for my community." Pauline Brown was predeceased by her parents, brothers Wilmer and Melvin, half-sister Bessie Cook, husband Eugene Harold "Bubba" Brown, and granddaughter April Leverne Baylor. Those left to cherish her memory include her children, Paulette "Pumpkin" Brown, Eugene Harold Brown, Jr. ("Jackie), Archie Waylon Brown, and RuthAnn Brown, all of Austin; grandchildren, Andre Lamont Brown of Austin and Portia Ballage of Denver, Colorado; and great-grandson, Carl Turner, Jr. "Dusty" of Austin; sisters-in-law, Ollie Mae Stewart of California and Lena Stewart, Austin; brother-in-law, George E. Baylor; first cousins, Clara Mae Baker, Lillie Lewis, Frances Freeman, and a host of other cousins; best friend, Theresa Fontenette; and nieces and nephews, Mary Cleveland, Barbara Shaw, Metria Kindred, Joan Kindred, Connie Baylor-Johnson, Jocelyn Taylor, Wanda Baylor-Johnson, Dorothy Baylor-Jackson, Marquette Bailey, Nero Kindred, III, Don Baylor, Sr., Don Baylor, Jr., Douglas Baylor, Sr., Douglas Baylor, Jr., Thomas Brown, Robert Walker, William Baylor, Jr., Kenneth Brown, and Christopher Baylor, all of Austin. Visitation at the King-Tears Mortuary, 1300 E. 12th St., Austin, TX 78702, on Friday, September 4, from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., will be followed by services on Saturday, September 5 at 11:00 a.m. at the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church, 1725 W. 11th St., Austin, TX, and burial at Evergreen Cemetery. Donations in Pauline's honor can be made to Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church.