Marie Brown

For those who loved her, we began saying goodbye to Marie several years ago, as progressive dementia slowly stole pieces of the vibrant, independent woman we knew and loved. But the disease that ultimately took her life could never diminish the extraordinary life she lived, the places she explored, or the memories she left behind.

In her final years of awareness, as she recognized that her mind was beginning to fail her, Marie asked her sister, Oel, to bring her home to Florida so that she could be closer to family. And so, in October 2022, Marie said a difficult farewell to her beloved Montana and returned to the state where her life had begun.

Edith Marie Brown was the youngest of four children born to J.C. and Gladys Wingo. She was raised on a small farm in Orla Vista, Florida, surrounded by her siblings and two older half-brothers.

After high school, Marie moved to Springfield, Missouri, where she attended Bible Baptist College. There she met her first husband. The couple later moved to Great Falls, Montana, and had two children.

Montana became the place that nourished Marie’s heart and the place she would always consider home. She spent much of her professional life working in property management there. For a brief period, she lived in Seattle, Washington, where she worked for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, but Montana eventually called her home again.

It was there that Marie found the great love of her life, Allen Brown. Following their engagement and marriage, they made their home in Great Falls. They shared their lives until Allen’s death in 2010.

After losing Allen, Marie opened a new chapter in her life—one filled with extraordinary adventure. She traveled to more than half of the countries in the world and successfully set foot on all seven continents. Africa held a particularly special place in her heart and remained her favorite travel experience.

Marie possessed a wonderfully creative spirit. She loved photography and woodworking and found pleasure in making things with her own hands. Although she would never have described herself as an avid sportswoman, she enjoyed fly-fishing and skiing amid the mountains and rivers of the Montana she loved so deeply.

Marie is survived by her daughter, Crystal Brown; two grandchildren; her sister, Oel Wingo; her brother, Clyde Wingo; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Allen; her child, [name]; her parents; and [siblings, if you wish to include them].

Even in death, Marie chose one final adventure—and one final act of generosity.

She donated her brain to science in the hope that research may one day help unlock the mysteries of dementia and lead to treatments or a cure for the disease that ultimately took her life. It is a fitting final gift from a woman whose curiosity carried her around the world.

Marie’s remains will be cremated, and at a later date her ashes will be scattered in two places that represent so much of the life she loved: Montana, her chosen home on this earth, and Africa, the place that captured her imagination and remained her favorite journey.

Dementia may have taken Marie from us little by little, but it cannot take the life she lived.

She was a daughter and sister, a mother and grandmother, a wife and widow, a professional, a craftswoman, a photographer, a traveler and an adventurer. She crossed oceans, stood on seven continents, cast a fly into Montana waters, skied beneath its mountains, created things with her hands, and saw more of this remarkable world than most of us ever will.

That is the Marie we choose to remember.

And somewhere between the mountains of Montana and the vast landscapes of Africa, a little piece of her will forever remain.