Find-a-Grave
Emery Easton "Brownie" Brown, son of Mabel Hayden (Easton) Brown and Arthur Bernard Brown, was born Aug. 18, 1919 in Boston, Massachusetts, "a subsequent product of the earlier celebration of the signing of the armistice ending World War I, Nov. 11, 1918." He died May 18, 2020.
He was raised in Waltham, Massachusetts, active in the Payson Park Church and graduated from Waltham High School in 1937 and Northeastern University on their five year co-op program, which allowed him to work full time some semesters and finance his own education, being post-Depression. When asked he would state, "I am a graduate of North Eastern University College of Business Administration with a major in accounting who was unable to stick around for graduation. I completed my last final on Friday April 3, 1942 and commenced wearing Uncle Sam's free clothing on the following Monday." When he and fellow classmates went to enlist the morning following Pearl Harbor, the seniors were advised to return to school, complete their final semester, then enlist. Brownie took them literally not feeling the need to hang around and "stand on ceremony." His formal education completed for the time being, he went from the exam to enlistment office. His diploma was then mailed to the family home.
"As the envisioned most promising accountant-to-be, those controlling the destination of the U.S. Army Air Corps, determined that I would make a perfect aircraft mechanic. I rose through the enlisted ranks during the succeeding couple of years and was recommended to become one of the few candidates to be granted, in the field of combat, a direct commission to the officer rank. I became the engineering officer of a bomber squadron. Service overseas was in the North African and Italian Campaigns. Landing in the former French Colony of Oran, Algeria having shipped out of Brooklyn, N.Y. with a German submarine off shore, just outside the harbor. Small ships from the Royal Canadian Navy, whose main duty was to act as convoy escorts across the Atlantic, kept that sub at bay for us. As they say, the rest is history."
As a young boy he was introduced to the woods of Maine. In 1929, his family started coming to Sawyers Island, Boothbay with family friends, the Pinkhams. The wife was a Welch and her family owned a few lots along The Lane. The following year the family built a comfortable log cabin. Brownie told of being the only male while the men were back home working. As a male he was required to sleep on a cot in the kitchen or in the Loom Room at another Welch cottage. In the 1940s, while overseas, Brownie acquired the cabin which he retained until the early 1970s, when his daughter and husband moved into a home on the island, just across the street from the lane leading to the cabin. Consequently Sawyers Island has been considered the family home with four generations having lived there over the past 90 years.
Following his return home from the war he married the former Marion Virginia Ricker, on Dec. 30, 1945, and moved to her hometown of Abington, Massachusetts. They raised their three children there. He was employed his whole career with The John Hancock Life Insurance Company of Boston, retiring in 1981.
Brownie served as the head of the Municipal Finance Committee for the town of Abington, very active in the First Parish Congregational Church UCC of Abington, the Boy Scouts of America once he moved his family to Chelmsford in 1965, the Sawyers Island Community Association and eventually as a volunteer at the South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, Florida during the initial 25 years of its existence. He moved with his second wife Millie to Sun City Center, originally seasonally following their retirement. He moved to Freedom Plaza in its opening year 1992, where he lived until one week before his 99th birthday, in 2018, when he transitioned into Homewood Assisted Living. He served in sundry capacities at Freedom Plaza over the ensuing years.
Once his children were raised, he started traveling; with a couple cross country road trips, Scandinavia, Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, Holy Lands, Australia, various parts of Europe, Mediterranean, the Panama Canal, Carrabean, Hawaii, and north to Alaska, among other destinations. He loved playing cards with friends and family and being a ham was active in church minstrel shows and the Freedom Follies. He was a jokester and loved brain-teasing puzzles. He continued to attend exercise sessions well past his 100th birthday.
Brownie endured the misfortune of being widowed five times. He was married to the former Marion Virginia Ricker, the mother of his children, for 25 years before she died in February 1971 after a long fought battle with cancer. He married Mildred Robinson Ludden on July 7, 1973, thus returning to Abington. Following their retirement they briefly moved to their new home in Alton Bay, N.H. No longer being as active in winter outdoor sports, they started wintering in Kings Point, Sun City Center, Florida. Falling in love with the active community life they left the north and building a new home, they moved south permanently. A few years later they wisely committed to relocate to the planned Freedom Plaza Continuing Care plan. Unfortunately Millie succumbed to rapidly progressing health condition Dec. 14, 1991. Brownie, again widowed, continued with their carefully planned relocation and moved into Freedom Plaza as soon as construction was completed. While volunteering at South Bay Hospital, he met and married Katherine "Kathy" Callan, Feb. 14, 1993. She passed away Feb. 12, 2005. Not believing people were put on this earth to live a lonely singular existence, and finding himself again in love, he married Ruth O'Leary who he met at church and also resided in Freedom Plaza, Nov. 19, 2005 and losing her way too soon, Dec. 13, 2010. His final wife was Betty Jane Ackerman. They married Oct. 22, 2011. She valiantly hung in there to help celebrate his 100th birthday and passed on October 2019, and he followed May 2020, partly due to the loneliness and confusion of being confined to one room as a protection from COVID-19. He was a people person, and having little hearing or vision, had no idea what to do with himself alone in one room.
Brownie was also predeceased by his parents, aunts, uncles and was the last cousin left. Also preceding him was son Robert Wendell Brown, and his sister Jane B. Reed.
He is survived by his oldest and youngest children, Doris Louise (Brown) Burnham and husband Douglas W. and Richard Walter Brown and wife Shirley all of Boothbay, Maine, plus grandchildren Kimberly, Mary, Misty, Barbara and Richard II. He leaves behind nine great-grandchildren.
Portland Press Herald (ME)
March 3, 1999Marion Brown Payson, 102, of Foreside Road died Monday at her home.
She was born in Portland, a daughter of Herbert J. and Eva Simmons Brown, and attended local schools.
During World War I she worked for the American Red Cross in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In 1919 she married Phillips M. Payson, who died in 1977.
Of the many organizations Mrs. Payson was involved in, her main interests were Maine Medical Center and the Dental Clinic. She was a member of the Maine Medical Center Visiting Committee and was interested in nursing education, for which she started a fund. She was president of the Dental Clinic for many years, a position previously held by her mother. During World War II, she was head of the Civilian Committee for Recreation in Portland, working closely with the Navy.
She was the first president of the Portland Junior League, a member of St. Mary's Garden Club and a member of the Colonial Dames. She was also elected to the Deborah Morton Society, an award given by Westbrook College for outstanding volunteer work in the Portland area. Mrs. Payson was a member of the State Street Church.Surviving are a son, Eliot B. Payson of Hamilton, Mass.; three daughters, Emily Hart of Cherry Hill, N.J., Merrill Robbins of Cumberland and Lorna Dorsey of Freeport; 12 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
Find-a-Grave
Emily Hart Payson died Oct. 20, 2008, at 88 years of age.
She leaves two sisters, Merrill Robbins and her husband Peter of Cumberland, Lorna Dorsey and her husband Donald of Freeport, one brother, Eliot Payson and his wife Janet of Falmouth; and many nieces and nephews.
She lived her last few years at Ledgeview Assisted Living in Cumberland where she found a safe and happy home. Emily loved music, flowers, children and being outside in the sun. She was a person who never wanted to bother people nor complain and her beautiful smile would lighten up those around her. Her family would like to thank Ledgeview so much for all the care they gave her.
Portland Press Herald (ME)
September 16, 2012FALMOUTH -- Eliot Brown Payson, 90, died peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 2, 2012, at his home in Falmouth.
Eliot was born on April 16, 1922, in Portland, to Phillips and Marion Payson.
He graduated from St. Paul's School in New Hampshire and Williams College in Massachusetts. Eliot served his country during WW II as a P51 Mustang pilot. He enjoyed a career with S.D. Warren Paper Co. and served for many years on the Board of Consumers Water Co. He lived most of his life on the North Shore of Boston. Eliot had a passion for the ocean and boating, nature, travel and exploring, and enjoying life with friends. He volunteered at The Boston Aquarium and Habitat for Humanity. He was a generous, warmhearted and well-loved man.
He is survived by his daughters, Wendy Kerr of Longmont, Colo., and Susan Wright of Fairview, N.C.; sister, Lorna Dorsey of Freeport; stepsons, Charles F. Pingree of North Haven, and Sumner Pingree III of Sag Harbor, N.Y.; and many nieces and nephews.
Portland Press Herald (ME)
April 26, 2012CUMBERLAND -- Merrill P. Robbins died peacefully and unexpectedly on April 22, 2012.
Merrill was born in Portland on July 16, 1926. She was the daughter of Phillips and Marion Payson.
She grew up in Portland on Pine Street and spent summers in Cumberland. As a young girl, she enjoyed riding throughout Cumberland and also won many jumping competitions with her horse Skyrocket. Merrill graduated from The Waynflete School and Smith College. After college, she worked as an x-ray technician in Portland and Boston.
She met her husband, Peter G. Robbins, in Boston and they were married in 1955. Together they raised four children in Brookline, Mass. While in Boston, Merrill volunteered with the Ladies' Visiting Committee at Mass General Hospital and for The Home for Little Wanderers. She enjoyed reading, golf and tennis, skiing, the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle and animals of all kinds. She was a loyal and trusted friend and she got strength and enjoyment from helping others. After Peter's retirement, they moved to Cumberland Foreside. In retirement they were fortunate to enjoy wonderful time with their family. They also enjoyed the opportunity to travel throughout Europe. They celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary in May of 2010. Merrill was predeceased by her husband Peter; her sister Emily Hart Payson; and an infant son, Peter Bradford Robbins. She is survived by her brother, Eliot Payson of Falmouth, her sister, Lorna and her husband Donald Dorsey of Freeport; her two sons, Peter E. and his wife Anne Robbins of Cumberland, William P. and his wife Susan Robbins of Freeport, her two daughters, Merrill and her husband Charles Woodworth of Yarmouth, and Jennifer L. Robbins and Rick Gause of Cumberland; as well as five grandchildren, Will and Cam Woodworth, Eliot Robbins, Marion and Emily Robbins; and many nieces and nephews.
Find-a-Grave
Peter G. Robbins, 86, died peacefully at Maine Medical Center on May 9, 2011.
Peter was born in Boston in 1925, the youngest of six children of William and Marion Bennett Robbins.
He graduated from Milton Academy and began studies in a five-year U.S. Navy medical program at Harvard University in 1943. After two years of undergraduate work, he entered Harvard Medical School. While still part of the Naval Reserve when the Korean War began in 1950, Peter volunteered for duty as a battalion surgeon with the United States Marine Corps. Although he rarely spoke about his experiences in Korea, he was extremely proud of the Corps and his service, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. Peter's family only recently discovered the commendation for the medal, which stated: 'Serving as the battalion surgeon, Lieutenant Robbins displayed exceptional ability, initiative and professional skill in his duties. On numerous occasions, he disregarded his personal safety and unhesitatingly advanced forward of the main line of resistance to administer medical aid to the seriously wounded Marines and to assist in their evacuation. He was frequently subjected to enemy artillery and mortar fire but fearlessly remained for long hours to care for the casualties.'
Upon his return to civilian life, Peter began his career in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Boston. There he met and married his devoted and supportive wife, Merrill Payson, in 1955, with whom he raised four children.
He served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School while in private practice in Boston. After many years in private practice, Peter was recruited by Harvard Community Health Plan for its original panel of physicians. He worked at HCHP until his retirement in 1990. Peter was passionate about the practice of medicine and cherished his relationships with his patients.
Peter was known for his great sense of humor as well as his deep intellectual curiosity. All his life he loved to study. He was especially focused on calculus and his family found it amusing to predictably find him immersed in his calculus books and papers. Whenever he traveled, his carry-on luggage was heavy and cumbersome because his math books were mandatory traveling companions. During his many courageous hospital stays over the last couple of years, his one consistent request was that his math books be brought to him while he was there. He also loved astronomy, science, Latin, Shakespeare, music and history, particularly the Civil War.
Sports of all kinds vied for his time; and he ran the Boston Marathon multiple times, as well as the Ocean State and the Casco Bay marathons. He loved playing golf with his friends and family. He was a spirited competitor. He was also an avid, life-long Red Sox fan and closely followed all the other Boston sports teams. Peter's passion for his work and hobbies was exceeded only by his passion for his family and friends. Since all his children live nearby, they were very fortunate to be able to spend lots of time with Peter during his retirement in Cumberland.Peter is survived by his wife Merrill, his sister Celina Kellogg of Hanover, N.H.; his two sons, Peter E. and his wife Anne of Cumberland, William and his wife Susan of Freeport, and his two daughters Merrill Woodworth and her husband Charles of Yarmouth, and Jennifer Robbins and Rick Gause of Cumberland. He also leaves five grandchildren, whom he loved dearly; and many nieces and nephews.
Portland Press Herald (ME)
March 3, 2005TREDENNICK, KATE PAYSON - 91, of Monroe Township, N.J., Feb. 27, 2005.
The Telegraph (Nashua, NH)
December 21, 1999Lawrence Nye Stevens, 84, of Arlington, Va., died Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999, at his home from lung cancer.
Mr. Stevens was born in Nashua, son of Isaac Stevens, who founded the Maine Manufacturing Co.
He was the husband of Linda Christensen Stevens and was the ex-husband of Stephanie Kinsley and Jane Payson.
Mr. Stevens held senior policy positions at the Department of the Interior in the 1960s. At the department, he argued effectively that more emphasis should be put on outdoor recreation opportunities that city dwellers could easily reach, suggesting that imagination might matter more than money in creating them.
Among Mr. Stevens' most successful initiatives was one to turn excess federal property -- often military bases -- into urban recreation areas. He also was successful with "From Rails to Trails," which converts unused railroad right-of-way into bike paths.
In 1969, Mr. Stevens personally dissuaded the Nixon Administration from selling federally owned Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay to an amusement park developer. He convinced President Nixon to instead support acquisition not just of Alcatraz but of all the land and seashore that became the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Then-Interior Secretary H. Stewart Udall, an appointee of President Kennedy, and Laurance Rockefeller, the leading Republican conservationist and the Commission's chairman, shared Mr. Stevens' view, and in 1963 Congress created a new parkland acquisition fund aimed at urban users.
As associate director of Interior's newly-created Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, Mr. Stevens helped acquire the Assateague Island National Seashore in Virginia, the Fire Island National Seashore in New York and the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area in northern California.
In 1968, he earned the Interior's Department's Distinguished Service Award and in 1969 he resigned to become executive director of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality, a public-private advocacy group that Rockefeller supported.Commissioned a lieutenant in the Navy in World War II, Mr. Stevens was in charge of the study of military geography in the European Theatre, selecting targets for allied attacks.
After the war, Mr. Stevens served as an assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Interior and occupied a succession of policy positions. In retirement, he served on the board of the Bicycle Federation of America, a Washington-based user group.
Mr. Stevens graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1932 and Harvard University in 1936. He earned his master's degree in geography from the University of Chicago in 1938.
He was predeceased by a son, Eric Stevens.
Besides his wife, survivors include a sister, Dorothy Stevens of Nashua; three children, Dr. Karen Devassy of East Windsor, Conn., Dr. Judith Stevens of Los Altos, Calif., and L. Nye Stevens of Washington, D.C.; and seven grandchildren.
The Seattle Times
May 18, 2014Marjorie (Beede) Allyn Christianson A longtime resident of West Seattle, Marjorie passed away May 11, 2014 at the ripe old age of 95.
She was born in San Francisco, California April 22, 1919.
Her family had a rich history in the early development of Seattle. Marjorie belonged to numerous organizations, but her greatest love was teaching kindergarten. She had more friends than anyone we know, and was especially close to her Sigma Kappa sisters.
Predeceased by her husbands Raymond Allyn and Luther Christianson,
Marjorie leaves behind her children, Sandra Allyn, Linda James, Rick Allyn and Pamela Neithercott; ten grandchildren; and twelve great-grandchildren.
Alaska Vital Records
NameCharles Edward Davidson
GenderMale
Death Age47
Record TypeDeath
Birth Date1872
Death Date8 Aug 1919
Death PlaceAnnex Creek, Alaska, USA
Father
James A Davidson
Mother
Mandy Quigley
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
October 5, 2000Ethel Tinkerbell' Tinkerbell' Strom, 86
Feb. 13, 1914 Oct. 2, 2000Tinkerbell Strom, a homemaker, died at home. She was 86.
The native of Juneau, Alaska, lived in Richmond before moving to Concord 60 years ago.
Affiliations and hobbies: Sportsmen Yacht Club, Meals on Wheels, Daughters of the Nile; upholstery, cooking and boating.
Survivors: Daughter, Linda Adams of Concord; son, Alan Strom of Bremerton, Wash.; and three grandchildren.
Her husband, Bud, died in 1987.
The Key West Citizen (FL)
March 2, 2005Rita Kathleen Beede, 90, passed away peacefully on Saturday, Feb. 26, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Rita was born June 6, 1914, in Milwaukee, Wis., the eldest daughter of William and Edna Boylan.
Her family later moved to Fresno, Calif., where Rita was raised and received her formal education. As a young woman, Rita realized the dream of her youth when in 1941 she sailed aboard the SS Mariposa for the tropical paradise of Honolulu, Hawaii. There, Rita met her future husband Ensign Albert J. Beede, USN.
The couple was married in April of 1942, four months after witnessing the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the late 1940's a Naval assignment to the USS Gilmore brought Rita and Al and there first two sons to Key West where she fell in love with the island and its people.
The Navy also took Rita, Al and their growing family of five boys, Mike, Bill, Rick, Tim and Kevin to assignments across the United States and Japan.
Her love for the tropics continued to lure Rita back to Key West where she spent the remainder of her life. In Key West Rita became a dearly loved member of the community where she was known for her extraordinary acts of kindness and compassion.