Kathleen Lois Brown

On February 17, 2024, Kathleen Lois (nee Johnson) Brown passed away at her care facility in Beaumont at the age of 76. Kathleen, or Kathy as most people called her, was brought into the world on October 23, 1947 in San Bernardino by her parents Melvin Emerson Johnson and Lois Maxine (nee Coffer) Johnson. She then joined her parents and her sister, Patricia, in the family home on the corner of George and Alessandro Streets in Banning.

Kathleen attended Banning Schools K-12 and was considered to be a good student and a good citizen. In addition to studying piano for 9 years, Kathleen played flute in Bronco Marching Band. Kathleen was also a long-time Girl Scout and earned the Curved Bar Award, which is now the Golden Girl Scout Award. While attending Banning High School, Kathleen was a member of the California Scholastic Federation, a four-year member of the Math Club and the Girls' League, a member of the Girls' Athletic Association, and a two-year Candy Striper at the San Gorgonio Pass Memorial Hospital. Kathleen also performed in her Junior and Senior class plays, including a memorable performance in the dramatic production of "Look Who's Coming to Dinner" during her Junior year. Kathleen used her reading talents to serve as a reader for her teachers, and she was in charge of make-up for the acapella choir's annual operetta. A frequent member on the Banning High Honor Roll, Kathleen applied to and was accepted to the University of California at Riverside for Fall Semester 1965. Kathleen culminated her Senior year winning by the Banning Soroptimist Club's $500 Scholarship as well as the Soroptimist Club's $25 Citizenship Scholarship; Kathleen was also the Soroptimist's Teenage Citizen in the month of November 1964. Kathleen had even started taking classes UC Riverside prior to graduation.

Upon graduating from Banning High School on June 11, 1965, Kathleen attended UC Riverside as a Zoology major; she was aspiring to be a physician and since she loved animals, a career as a veterinarian seemed like a possibility. After a rough first year at UCR, Kathleen attended Mt. San Jacinto College, where she met the love of her life, John William Thomas Brown, in the school library. She then returned to UC Riverside for the Spring Semester 1967 while Tom got called into military service. The two maintained their strong bond despite the distance and when Tom was discharged from the Army and returned to California, they solidified their bond, culminating in their marriage in July 1970 in Yucaipa, and they then resided in Hesperia for a time. In June of 1972, both Kathleen and Tom received their Associate of Arts degrees from Victor Valley College. Eventually, the couple moved back to Banning and into Kathleen's childhood home at 214 E. George St. to help take care of her ailing father. They resided there together until Tom's passing on August 22, 1981. Kathleen continued to reside there until 2017; she never re-married.

Kathleen worked for the Banning Unified School District, first as a parent coordinator at Central Elementary School, then an instructional associate at both Banning High and Nicolet Middle Schools, and finally as a library media assistant at Banning High School, from which she retired in December 2019. She devoted over 45 years of her life to the district and had a profound impact on many of its students. Kathleen also served as a regional director for the classified employees union, the CSEA. She was instrumental in shaping policy and advocating for the rights of classified school employees throughout the state of California in her many years of CSEA leadership. Additionally, Kathleen was a gifted seamstress who was involved in the Pass Patchers Quilting Guild for many years. Quite simply, she was a maestra on the sewing machine. In her childhood, she used to make her own clothes and then as a young adult, she would sew the characters from the Winnie-the-Pooh menagerie as presents for her nephews, Nathan and Morgan. Kathleen was also quite the baker and was especially renown for her cheesecakes and molasses cookies. She was a member of the Banning Historical Society as well; Kathleen was proud of Banning and to be from Banning. She loved growing up there, building memories with family and friends in simpler times.

Kathleen Brown was cremated and is interred in a wall vault next to her sister, Patricia Reed, at the San Gorgonio Memorial Cemetery in Banning. She was preceded in death by her father, Melvin Emerson Johnson, her mother, Lois Maxine (Coffer) Johnson, her husband, John William Thomas Brown, and her sister, Patricia Colleen (Johnson) Reed. She is survived by her nephews, Nathan Reed(Roberta) of Scio, Oregon and Morgan Reed of Pinon Hills, California as well as many friends and colleagues.

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