Genevieve "Jean" McDonough Brown, formerly of Hinsdale, passed away May 5, 2020, with family at her side at Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park after a long illness.
Jean, 94, was born in the coal-mining town of Carbondale, Penn., and lived in a close-knit Irish Catholic family and community, filled with aunts, uncles and cousins. Her parents, Agnes (McDonnell) and John McDonough, had three generations living under one roof. Growing up in a multigenerational household instilled in Jean a deep devotion to family, setting her life's direction.
After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School in Carbondale in 1943, Jean answered the call to address the urgent nationwide shortage of nursing professionals and entered nursing school in Scranton, Penn. She then left her hometown for Washington, D.C., to work at Doctors Hospital. There, Jean met Dr. Clement R. Brown Jr., who would become her husband. Together, they made a succession of homes throughout the East and Midwest for their seven children.
After her husband's passing in 1993, Jean made her home in Hinsdale to be close to her children residing there and in La Grange and Winfield. She was a longtime member of St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Hinsdale. Given the name Genevieve, a name of French origin which means "of the family," Genevieve lived bringing the destiny of her birth name to full flower by giving her all to her family, friends and community.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Anne Saye.
She is survived by her children, Clement, Kathleen Cullather, Maureen Parton, Jean Richey, Lisa Lizzo and John; her 13 grandchildren, Beau Brown, Brittany Brown O'Hara, Jean Saye Riley, Maggie Saye, Claire Cullather, Peter Cullather, Jane Parton, Nathaniel Parton, Greer Richey, John Lizzo, Andrew Brown, Ellen Brown and Jack Brown; and two great-grandchildren, Fallyn and Griffin O'Hara.
A memorial Mass and reception will be announced at a later date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Burial will take place at St. Louis Cemetery in Clarksville, Md. An online guestbook is available at https://www.sullivanfuneralhomehinsdale.com for those who would like to show support for the Brown family or share a memory.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made online to the Sisters of St. Joseph in Chestnut Hill at https://www.ssjphila.org; the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation at https://www.bepositive.org; the National Shrine of St Jude at https://www.shrineofstjude.org); or Alzheimer's research at http://www.alz.org.
Sullivan Funeral Home in Hinsdale handled the arrangements.