Kay Lou Brown

Family and friends are mourning the loss of Kay Lou Brown, who passed from this life on January 26, 2021 from Covid-19. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 4 in a very good year. Her parents, Louis H. Brown and Helen G. (Watts) Brown, and elder brother, Robert A. Brown, preceded her in death. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority (Tri-Delta). Kay kept in touch throughout the years with some of her “sisters” until her death. Kay also earned a Master’s degree from Indiana University, and had worked at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in television production. Kay worked for the Under Secretary of Health during the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford administrations. Kay worked at and retired from IBM. Her Marketing background allowed her to live in a number of places, including Atlanta, Chicago, and Wilton, Connecticut. She retired from IBM in 2004 and eventually made her home in Sarasota, Florida. Kay Lou enjoyed travel, and as a single woman, would fly or join a cruise to many places around the world and had experiences that she would share with others on her return. On one trip with her sister-in-law Joann Brown, they traveled to China and were in Beijing, China during the Tiananmen Square protests. Kay’s trips took her to fascinating places around the world and she visited places in all the continents with the exception of Antarctica. In fact, Kay and Joann had planned a cruise starting in Venice, Italy in April 2020, which was canceled due to the CCP pandemic. Kay Lou loved to entertain and gathered in people from all walks of life with interesting backgrounds. Her parties and dinners, especially the New Year’s Day one was a favorite of all. A vivacious fashionista and world traveler, many of us treasured invitations to Kay's annual New Year's Day Pot Luck Open House celebrations. She had the uncanny ability to mix her eclectic circle of friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even relatives playing the Flute and French horn, into a memorable brew of conversations that flowed effortlessly into the wee hours every January 2nd. Linda Nardin, a former IBM coworker and friend had just recently spoke to Kay by phone --on January 8 – for the first time in more than 15 years. Retirements have a way of inadvertently disconnecting people. Neither of us knew the other had moved to Florida. They reminisced for almost 2 hours and had agreed that as soon as the pandemic subsided, they would coordinate a weekend visit. A mutual IBM friend, Roger Savitt, made that phone call possible. Kay leaves behind her nephews Ronald and Jeffrey Brown, sister-in-law Joann, and grand- nephew and grand-nieces in the Detroit area. Kay supported Mercy Home for Boys and Girls in Chicago, Illinois, and Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. Kay lived her life like the song, “My Way”. Think of Kay as you look out over the Gulf of Mexico. Funeral arrangements were handled by Toale Brothers, of Sarasota, Florida.

Tributes

Kay Lou Brown

January 26, 2021