Esther Rita Brown

Details: Category: Obituaries; Created on Monday, 28 April 2014 12:13; Hits: 10804

Services for Esther Rita Brown, a former Sitkan, will be held 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at the Salvation Army. A reception will follow the service.
Esther died on April 10, 2014, at her home in Ketchikan. She was 53.
She was born to Lincoln and Gladys Brown on March 9, 1961, in Sitka. She grew up in here but lived in Tacoma, Wash., from 1977 to 1981, where she worked at Tacoma Goodwill Industries.
She moved to Ketchikan in 1981, where she worked as a sorter and stocker at The Salvation Army Thrift Store. Esther was a member of The Salvation Army Church.
Esther was especially proud of being an excellent bowler, having once bowled on the Ketchikan team for the Special Olympics in Alaska for several years and also as a member of The Salvation Army Church home league. At the Special Olympics, she earned several medals in bowling and bocce. Her other hobbies included bingo, karaoke (her favorite song was ‘‘Elvira’’), picking berries with her mom and sisters, camping, and fishing off the Stedman Street Bridge.
Her favorite thing to do was watching wildlife. Esther liked to call herself “Downtown Esther Brown.” She was a delightful presence in the community, and will be noticeably missed by all who knew her.
Esther was a shareholder of both Sealaska and Shee Atika Corp.
She was preceded in death by her father, Lincoln Allen Brown; mother Gladys Ann Brown; and brother, Leonard Bert Brown.
Esther is survived by her sisters, Glenda Childs (Guy) of Trout Lake, Wash., Frances Morgan of Sitka and Betsy Hayworth of Anchorage; brother Barry Brown of Sitka; daughter Deanna (Eric) Fitzgerald of North Pole; grandsons Chíí and Mason Fitzgerald of North Pole; nieces Crystal Brown, Gladys Laverne Brown and Julissia King, all of Anchorage; nephew Leonard J. Brown of Anchorage; and cousins Brian (Donna) James, Esther, Sarah and Jack James of Nome, and Verna (Marty) Silvernail of Nome.
In lieu of flowers, cards and donations for the family may be dropped off at the Salvation Army before 2:30 p.m. April 29.