Eleanor Simpson Brown

October 31, 1923 - August 10, 2020

Join us for the Celebration of Life of Eleanor Simpson Brown on Zoom Sunday, August 15, 2021 Chaplain Roger Rustad is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Eleanor Simpson Brown Celebration of Life Time: Aug 15, 2021 02:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89204628431?pwd=WHRYakhEa1JxVTl2N2NmSXNaMTR0UT09 Meeting ID: 892 0462 8431 Passcode: 830134 One tap mobile +13462487799,,89204628431#,,,,*830134# US (Houston) +17207072699,,89204628431#,,,,*830134# US (Denver) Dial by your location +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 720 707 2699 US (Denver) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) Meeting ID: 892 0462 8431 Passcode: 830134 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kxGvECQOi Eleanor's Life Story July 30, 2020 I am writing with heavy heart as I watch my beautiful nearly 97-year-old Mother slipping rapidly. It came on so suddenly after a fall 2 weeks ago when she fell on her bedroom carpet. We thought she only sustained a few bruises and no real injuries, but she has really declined since then. She is eating about 1/3 of the food she used to eat, and not on her own now. Her wonderful caregivers now feed her. She is starting to choke on liquids, so is being given thick pudding like foods, and protein drinks etc. She seems very tired and just wants to rest most of time. Dr. Pinkerton just placed her on Hospice last week, after seeing her decline since he last saw her on June 10 in his office. He has since taken her off any medications. She has always been so healthy, apart from her Macular Degeneration and occasional bouts of Dementia. She just seemed to give up on life, saying she wanted to see Jesus and her other loved ones who have gone on before her. We thought we would have her for several more years! Now I am praying she will last until her 97th Birthday on Halloween. (sadly, she did not and passed away on August 10) She died just a month after her fall. I have such a profound sense of loss now, with the loss of both parents, and our home of 66 years (I was only 10 years old when we moved there). She was so beautiful (Inside and out) until the end with her lovely, flawless skin and her strong vital signs! The Hospice nurses were all amazed. I will always treasure the fact that I was with her for the last 10 days of her life and that I was also with my dad as he died! Thank God they were still in their own homes and not a nursing home (esp. with Covid). She had always been such a wonderful Christian lady to all who were privileged to know her! She always prayed for all of us in her family, as well as her caregivers and their families. They all loved her like a Mother and Grand Mother. She really touched so many lives! Mother would always stand up for the “Under Dog” & She often would plead our cases to daddy, who was very stern! My brother David and I have been So Blessed to have had both parents up into their nineties, and still living in their lovely home of 66 years! We truly had a Story book Life living there with our parents and sharing in so many wonderful memories with our kids and grandkids. I realize there won’t be many more trips to Downey and the “Big Yellow House” to see my Precious Mother, and it’s going to be So difficult to not only lose her (just 3.5 years after my dear Dad), but also our home which is like a Museum of Memories, travels, world treasures and artwork. It is truly a Unique, Iconic home. My folks had it built with their hobbies in mind, like the artist who painted lovely Mountain Murals high up on the walls of the mountain peaks daddy had scaled, and the huge rafters built like a high church ceiling to accommodate daddy’s juggling friends (he also had a hobby of juggling) It was a wonderful entertaining home, and they surely put on some fantastic parties, where they went all out decorating! It was recently featured by Charles Phoenix when he did a walk-through video of our home, calling it a beautiful Treasure Trove & Old-World Home built in the 5o’s and still in mint condition! Eleanor Simpson was born on Oct. 31, 1923 in Omaha, Nebraska to Benjamin Franklin Simpson and Nettie West. He was a widower with 3 sons from his first marriage (all of them became attorneys and judges and Law Professors) Her father was 55 years old and considered a “great catch” as he owned the largest farm in Muskegon and much of the city. Her mother was half his age at 22. Her father Benjamin worked with the famous Clarence Darrow and won his biggest law cast at age 86. He fathered my mother at the age of 74 and lived to nearly 103 years! My mother would always say “He had that Scottish Strong Blood”. Mother was the 4th child of Benjamin and Nettie. She had a beloved older sister named Marjorie, and an older brother named Wilbur. The next in line was her precious sister named Dorothy who sadly died at age 4 from Pneumonia. Then came my Mother Eleanor, the baby of the family (which she did not like being the baby) She adored her older siblings and they doted on her, so she had a very happy childhood growing up in Muskegon, Michigan. She attended Cedar Lake Academy there in Michigan where she was Vice President of her Junior class and Salutatorian of her senior class. She later moved to California where she worked as a lab tech at The White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. It was there that she met her future husband, my dad, Don Brown. He was a poor intern taking medicine through CME (Later Loma Linda University), and he would donate blood for money. He always wanted to donate more often than he should, and Eleanor would tell him he needed to wait a bit longer. That relationship blossomed, and Daddy soon had Mother joining his hand balancing gymnastic team. Mother would be the “third high person” up in the air. Daddy had long been a member of Muscle Beach before he took medicine, and he remained active with his tumbling and gymnastics, even teaching several of his Medical school classmates how to tumble. He was also a good friend of Jack LaLanne and they would later perform during chapel sessions at PUC while daddy was a student. They were married on Dec. 19, 1943 in Los Angeles, Ca. Three months later, my Mother’s Mom died because of her heart problems, which started when she contracted Rheumatic Heart Fever as a child. There were no antibiotics back in those days. She was a hard-working nurse and I am told was a Great Cook, all from scratch! Someday, I look forward to meeting my Grandmother Nettie in heaven! They later moved to Portland, Oregon where daddy was a Captain in the army, and that is where I came in! I was born there in July of 1944. Two & ½ years later, my brother David was born in Pasadena, Calif. Daddy first put out his shingle in Lynwood, Calif. where he practiced Family Practice. Mother would help in his clinic (until I was born) He wasn’t happy doing General Practice, so he enrolled in several years of training for Anesthesia. This was a much better fit for him, and he practiced at St. Francis Hospital for many years, until he retired at age 65. Mother was a “Stay at home” mom, and I am so thankful that she was! We had a really good life. She was a self-taught organist (taught herself up to 4th grade in music) while very young. Her parents Lost their beautiful Farm and many belongings in the Great Depression, so she just taught herself music! I later took Organ lessons as well and I have fond memories of the “Hammond Organ Club” we had meeting at our home every week. She later joined the Delphian Society where she earned a college degree. She was a member for 12 years and president of her chapter. She also had many offices in the Medical Auxiliary. She even became National Chairwoman of the Loma Linda Auxiliary. Mother also took up the job of Sabbath School Superintendent for the Youth at our Lynwood Adventist church for 3 years. She loved entertaining and planned the Best Parties, along with daddy! We often entertained their huge circle of friends, associates, and celebrity friends like the Magicians they knew from the Magic Castle, or the Gymnastic friends of daddy’s, or the Juggling friends from the circus (daddy was a real Circus Buff) We have wonderful memories of trips all over the world with my folks, starting with camping in the Sierras. Mother made the BEST Campsites of anyone I knew! We stayed in Yosemite for 2 weeks one summer and we kids had a blast! I later learned when I had my own family HOW MUCH WORK it was to set up a great campsite! Cooking & Cleaning the whole time! Mom was the “Normalizer who kept our Home Fires Burning”. She loved her Classical Music and both my parents loved the Downey Symphony. Mother was so very patient with daddy when he often took Expedition trips Mountain climbing all over the world! He would often be gone for at least 6 weeks. The two of them took untold trips together as well, mostly to their beloved European countries (Scotland & Switzerland being at the top). In 1985, daddy took me on a Wonderful 6-week adventure with him. This was his third trip to Nepal, and it was Mother’s idea to include me. We saw Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Nepal (our main focus) We trekked the steepest trails in the world for a month, getting up above Everest Bast Camp to Kala Patar. What Great Memories I had with Daddy! Mother suggested my dad take my brother David on long trip to Patagonia. We were so fortunate to travel quite a bit with my parents and one of our Best Memories was planning a month-long trip to Africa in 1998 and then inviting my folks to join us! We had the trip of a lifetime together! Our last family trip with my parents was when they both took us and our family to Scotland on a Taulk Tour. Daddy was 95 and Mother 89! Everyone on the Tour was Amazed at my parents still doing International travel! Of course, we all helped with them. What Wonderful Memories we have! Mother and I both joined an Ice-Skating club in Downey. We took part in the local ice skating shows for several summers, and it was lots of fun! We were asked by a talent scout to join The Ice Follies, but we declined, as that would be a difficult task, being on the road constantly! Daddy did Not want us both on the road either. We both also enjoyed taking some Modeling classes together. Mother had wonderful organizational skills also and was good at organizing church activities and those of her Medical Auxiliary as well. She was often involved in fund raising efforts for the many Gala events. Mother also started GEMS (GOOD EMERGENCY MOM SUBSTITUTES) while involved in the local Medical Auxiliary. This was one of her greatest achievements, along with the Delphian Society. GEMS taught the local high school girls how to become licensed babysitters, even learning life saving techniques like CPR. In closing, I am remembering what a Sweet, gracious Lady and a Woman of Class my dear Mother was! She was Beautiful outside as well as inside! She never let her classic beauty go to her head and was very down to earth. She was asked by a famous Hollywood Producer if she would like to become a “Star”? Of course, she politely declined and thanked him anyway. She looked so much like Grace Kelly! I never heard my Mother partake in any gossip. I thank God for her Godly Life and I hope and Pray to be more like her! She really knew her bible and she So Loved the Lord! If ever anyone was ready to leave this world, it was her. I know she is at peace and was So Anxious to meet her Savior. I can say that she had “A Life Well Lived”. I so look forward to that soon coming Heavenly Reunion where we will be reunited with our loved ones with No More Pain, Suffering, Sorrow and Death!