On Friday, May 5th, 2016, Gene Ellen Brown, 88, passed away at the Lutheran Heart Hospital in Fort Wayne. She was born May 19, 1927 in Winchester, KY to Sterling and Myrtle Howard. She married James L. Brown on January 14, 1947 who preceded her in death on July 16. 2003. They had five children and fortunately for them, all lived within a twenty mile radius.
She attended Oakdale Baptist Church, but as of late, was attending Emmanuel Fellowship Church with her two youngest daughters. She was happy with that, as she just wanted to be in church on Sunday.
She was a hard worker and retired from AGP in Peru.
She loved her close friends and church family, but most importantly her family. She was a spunky little lady and loved telling jokes. She would sit for hours and write out jokes from books. She would give them to all of us and send some to her grandchildren that were out of town. Among her passions was her doll collection of over 400 dolls. She made many quilts, and everyone wanted the latest one made. She earned a diploma from the Lifetime Career School in Doll Technology. In her spare time, she also enjoyed doing word searches and puzzles.
She is survived by her children: John Brown (Connie), Bonnie Burns (Mike), Sharon Craig (Donnie) Christie Howard (Tim) and Teresa Bruce (Brian).
She had 21 grandchildren: John Jr. (Denise) Brown, Nonie (Dennis) Frye, Brian Brown, Logan (Rusty) Newby, Traci Brown, Michael Burns, Jeremy Craig, James (Crystal) Craig, Casondra (John) Oldaker, Steven (Katie) Holland, Brittany (Joe) Jackson, Zac Bruce, Sara (Brent) McClain.
She is also survived by 28 great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter. She is also survived by her brothers Sterling Tracy Howard of Kokomo, Arthur Howard of Hartford City. Rick Howard (Kathy) of Fairmount, and her sister Shirley Melton of Wabash along with one sister-in-law Georgia Reed of Wabash and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by both her parents, her husband, one sister, and four brothers, one grandson and 2 great-granddaughters.
Friends and family may call from 4-7pm on Wednesday, May 11th at Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home or one hour before services at 11 am Thursday, May 12th. Pastor Robert Stuck will be officiating and burial will follow at Ever Rest Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Cancer Research Endowment Fund or Peru Bona Vista Programs of Community Connections.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Flowers-Leedy Funeral Home. Friends and family may sign the online guestbook atwww.FlowersLeedyAllen.com.