Kathleen I. Brown

Kathleen Inez Curtis Brown passed away peacefully on the morning of June 25, 2014, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She was 85 years of age and was surrounded by her family. Kathleen was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 7, 1929, to the late Howard Glen Curtis and Maude Mae Curtis.Kathleen was an involved and caring wive, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.



Kathleen was a native Tulsan for her entire life. She attended Tulsa’s John Burroughs Elementary and Cherokee Junior High School in Turley, Oklahoma, where she met her husband of 65 years, William “Bill” Russell Brown. Her and Bill went on to attend Tulsa Central High School together. Bill left in 1945 to join the United States Army, serving overseas in Korea after World War II. Kathleen graduated from Central in 1947.



After graduation, she attended Tulsa Business College then she worked for Carter Oil Company. Bill was discharged from the Army and returned home to Tulsa to be reunited with Kathleen. Shortly thereafter, on November 21, 1948, Kathleen married her sweetheart Bill, following a four-year courtship. They were married at the home of their pastor, Rev. James Rutherford of the Cincinnati Avenue Christian Church. After the ceremony, the couple honeymooned in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the first of many vacations together as husband and wife.



A devoted wife, and mother of three, Kathleen was a celebrated homemaker and stayed home to raise the couple’s three sons, Russell, Randall, and Jeffrey. Kathleen was known by her family as a wonderful cook making most family dinners from scratch each evening. She was also an avid reader who loved mystery novels and would gladly loan her books to friends and family. Each day she would finish the crossword puzzle from the newspaper.



During marriage, Bill worked his way up through the ranks of Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, starting his career as a route sales man and retiring as Senior Vice-President and Operating Manager of the Tulsa location. During his career at Pepsi, Bill consistently took Kathleen on every business trip he could, traveling together to conferences in Honolulu, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City, just to name a few. After Bill retired from Pepsi, the couple continued their adventures taking cruises to Alaska and through the Caribbean. The couple remained very social and avid dancers frequenting the Candlewood Club and Moose Lodge.



Their family grew over the years, as their sons married and had children of their own. Kathleen very much enjoyed her new role as a grandmother, spending countless hours playing board games with her grandchildren or reading to them, sharing her love of books. Kathleen was the ultimate host having the entire family over for each Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She very much loved her family and hosting decades of these holiday celebrations. Four generations of family could be found around the dinner table where Kathleen prepared a loving feast. She was known to make a minimum of ten pounds of homemade mashed potatoes for each holiday, a recipe that will never be matched again. She was also known for her tasty pumpkin pies and snickerdoodle cookies.



Kathleen is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Bill, her son Russell and his wife Shannon, her son Randy and his wife Skylar, and her son Jeff and his wife Nancy. Kathleen is also survived by her brother, Tommy Howard Curtis and his wife Ina, her seven grandchildren, Christopher, Tyler, Valery, Clayton, Brittney, Rikki Leigh and Dalton and her two great-grandchildren, Madelyn and Benjamin. Schaudt Funeral Service is providing funeral arrangements with a private viewing Thursday evening from 6-8 p.m. Graveside service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, Memorial Park Cemetery.



In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Crippled Children’s Foundation, 205-977-7052.