Marge Brown

1937 - 2025

News story
By Kelly Kaczala
Blade staff writer

Marge Brown, the first female mayor of Oregon who was described as selfless and caring by family, friends, and colleagues, died Oct. 19.

"There never was a person she didn't like, even though you might have had a disagreement with her," said Lenny Fetterman, Mrs. Brown's husband. "She loved the city and loved her students."

Mrs. Brown, who was 88 years old, died of heart failure at Mercy Health Perrysburg Hospital.

"She had problems breathing for the last few weeks," Mr. Fetterman said. "She had a chest X-ray that showed she had pneumonia, which contributed to her heart failure."

Mr. Fetterman said her last words were: "I lived a wonderful, great life. I'm ready."

Prior to her government service, she was a public school teacher for 39 years, mostly with Oregon schools.

Cindy Villarreal, who drove a bus for the district, met Mrs. Brown when she taught at Eisenhower Middle School.

"She was larger than life. We would go have coffee in the custodian room, and every once in a while, teachers would pop in," Ms. Villarreal said. "Marge would be among them. It wasn't every day, but when she had time. She loved to talk to us and see what was going on out there."

Mrs. Brown was born in Oregon, the 12th of 13 children of John and Mildred Teneyck, on July 21, 1937.

She graduated from Clay High School in 1955 and Mary Manse College in 1968.

In 1989, she was elected to Oregon City Council. In 2001, she was elected as Oregon's first female mayor. She served in that role until 2009, when she was defeated for a third term by current Mayor Mike Seferian.

Trailblazer and mentor

Kelly Wolfe, an administrative assistant to Mrs. Brown, said she was a trailblazer.

"Being the first female mayor, there were a lot of women here who looked up to her," Ms. Wolfe said.

"Marge was a nurturer, someone who tried to take care of people. She was really dedicated to serving others," she said.

Mrs. Brown liked to give recognition to employees for their work, she added.

"Marge would hand out the payroll checks to employees every Friday. She would personally walk around and pat everyone on the back, shake their hands, and thank them for their work," Ms. Wolfe said. "She was not a stuffy person."

Among her achievements was establishing the Patient Advocacy Fund LLC, which uses donations to support the Care-A-Van program to transport patients to and from medical appointments. Mercy Health St. Charles Hospital operated a previous service but ran out of funds and discontinued the program, Ms. Wolfe said.

"When that service stopped, she, along with fellow doctors at St. Charles who were concerned about their patients, came together and formed a group called the Care-A-Van. They were able to raise funds to get that going again and it continues to this day," Ms. Wolfe said.

Another accomplishment was working with the Area Office on Aging and Lutheran Home Society to create the Adult Alzheimer's Day Center Program, which provides a safe environment for adults suffering with Alzheimer's and gives caregivers a needed break, Ms. Wolfe said.

Other achievements included purchasing land adjacent to the municipal complex for future expansion and recreation programs, quadrupling the city's rainy day fund, and creating Oregon's industrial park, Ms. Wolfe said.

Sandy Garverick, executive assistant in Oregon for 31 years before she retired earlier this year, said Mrs. Brown was always considerate to the staff.

"She treated us with respect," said Mrs. Garverick, who also became good friends with Mrs. Brown over the years. "We all have jobs to do, but we were part of the team. She was bold, involved, and in the office every single day. She was my mentor."

When Mrs. Garverick's elderly parents were going through some health issues, Mrs. Brown helped her get through it.

"She was a friend," Mrs. Garverick said. "She was there for motherly advice. She meant a lot to me. She made an impact on a lot of people."

She recalls how Mrs. Brown would often buy doughnuts, not just for city hall staff.

"She would make sure she had enough for the water treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant, the fire division, and recreation department. That human touch made a huge difference," Mrs. Garverick said.

Mr. Fetterman, who was married to Mrs. Brown for four years, said his wife always wanted to help people.

As a teacher, Mrs. Brown would often visit some of her students' homes to find out about their family environment - whether there were issues that affected their studies, Mr. Fetterman said.

"She wanted to know what was going on in their personal lives," he said.

Mr. Fetterman and Mrs. Brown were companions for 33 years prior to their marriage. They met when he was a mail carrier.

"Her first husband had died, and my wife had also passed away. We found we both loved to travel. That's how we got together," he said.

World traveler

Over the years, the couple traveled to 55 countries and every state in the country, he said.

"Marge rode a camel near the pyramids of Egypt, went on a safari in Zimbabwe, and rode a mule to the Molokai leper colony in Hawaii," Mr. Fetterman said.

At Christmastime, the couple would visit several nursing homes dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus, Mr. Fetterman said.

"People would call us to do it in other places and wanted to give us money, but we always declined," Mr. Fetterman said.

Since 2017, Mrs. Brown had worked on writing her own obituary, which appears on the Freck Funeral Chapel website, said Ms. Villarreal, who works at the funeral home.

"She knew eventually something would happen. Much of the obituary is Marge expressing appreciation to many people she knew. She wanted to thank every single person," Ms. Villarreal said.

Mrs. Brown was also the subject of controversy. In 2009 her Oregon police officer son, Jeffrey, was suspended without pay for 20 days following a police investigation of officer misconduct. Allegations that she suppressed public complaints about him for years were made against her by political opponents just weeks before the November election where she sought a third term as mayor. She lost.

Mrs. Brown is survived by her husband, Lenny; children Joani Donovan, Jean Netz, and Jeff Brown; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Ignatius Church or Cardinal Stritch Catholic High School & Academy.