Mrs. Esmie Louise Brown

ESMIE LOUISE (MORALES) BROWN was born to Edith and Alfred Morales on February 1, 1936, in Rio Bueno, Trelawny, Jamaica. She was the eldest of nine siblings. She attended the Dry Harbour All Age School for primary and secondary school. As a young girl, Esmie liked to read books, mostly history and biographies. She usually got books from the traveling library van, that visited the school once a month Esmie, also, enjoyed needle crafts. She made clothes for her dolls and was taught to knit and crochet by the minister's wife. Esmie attended the Discovery Bay Congregational Church. In secondary school, she was selected to teach Sunday school, to the younger children because she was an excellent reader. She told Bible stories and taught them Bible verses. In her spare time, she played rounders, a bat and ball game, and often stayed after school to help the teachers in their classrooms. At Discovery Bay, she played the organ and was also a lay preacher. She was affectionately called, "PT (pupil teacher)", by all who knew her. After graduating from secondary school, Esmie attended Shortwood Teacher's College in Kingston, St. Andrew, Jamaica. She majored in education and home economics. Upon graduation, she taught home economics at Welcome Hall Primary School, near Montego Bay. It was while she was a teacher at Albion Primary School (St. James Parish) that her college mate, Ouida Nelson introduced her to Mallothi Brown, a principal in St. Mary Parish. Ouija was from the same town as Mallothi. Esmie and Mallothi married in 1965. She moved to St. Mary, Jamaica, and taught at a nearby school. Esmie and Mallothi were blessed with three children: Nyette, Malore and Mark. Esmie took care of her family and home while working as a full-time school teacher. When she married Mallothi, she inherited a host of nieces and nephews, who lived with him. In addition, she brought along her grandmother and two younger sisters, a truly blended family. In 1969, Esmie, Mallothi and their three children migrated from Jamaica to Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas. The Browns spent 10 years working as teachers for the Bahamian Ministry of Education. While in the Bahamas teaching elementary school, Esmie earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Miami, Coral Gables (Fla.) and graduated Magna Cum Laude. The family migrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1979. Esmie and Mallothi taught at the Voice of Christian Youth (VCY) High School and were very active in the St. James United Methodist Church. Esmie was a Sunday school teacher and member of the United Methodist Women group. Always a devoted Christian, she started a women's bible study at St. James, that met on Saturday mornings for many years. Eventually Esmie became a long-term substitute teacher for the Milwaukee Public Schools, until retirement. Esmie helped her grandchildren, Chariesse and Devon (DJ), with their homework and also taught them many lessons, well before they learned them in elementary school. DJ once said, "Grandma, where do you get these workbooks from? As soon as I finish one, you always have another!" ONCE A TEACHER, ALWAYS A TEACHER. Esmie enjoyed cooking, especially trying new recipes. She was an avid reader, particularly the Grace Livingston Hill romance books. In addition, she sewed clothes for the family. One of her favorite pastimes was monitoring the news of the royal family in England. She started this at an early age and continued until her death. Her grandparents, Esther and Abraham, followed "the royals" so, naturally, as a child, Esmie read the magazines and newspapers and listened to the news on the radio. Esmie's sisters fed this "royal addiction" by sending newspapers, memorabilia and other items from England. Esmie and Mallothi loved to travel. They traveled to the Holy Land, England and Canada, to name just a few places. Esmie enjoyed listening to gospel music and, most recently, gospel reggae. She listened to country music as a child in Jamaica on a battery operated radio that picked up frequencies from the United States and Cuba. Esmie adopted keeping beautiful flower gardens around the house and could often be found in the vegetable garden with her husband. She continued the needlecraft from her youth and started hand quilting during retirement. While in Accra, Ghana, for a few months after Mallothi's passing, she took up basket weaving. A lifelong learner, Esmie took piano lessons and studied Spanish, during her retirement. Mallothi and Esmie were married more than 51 years. He preceded her in death by 6 months and 10 days. Esmie died the day before their 52nd wedding anniversary. She was also preceded in death by her: parents; grandmother, Esther; brothers, Wesley and Phillip; and sister, Elaine. Esmie is survived by her: children: Nyette Brown-Ellis (Devon) of Milwaukee; Malore Brown of Accra, Ghana; and Mark Brown of Milwaukee; siblings: Evette Morales of London, England, Ita Morales-Luckain of Delaware, Daphne Morales of Florida, Mildred Peter of London, England and Beverly Morales-Brady of Discovery Bay, Jamaica; grandchildren: Chariesse Ellis of Cape Town, South Africa and Devon John Ellis of Atlanta; and a host of nieces, nephews, and extended family and friends in Jamaica, the United States, Canada, England and Europe; and an endless list of friends,worldwide that mourn her death.

Mrs. Esmie Louise Brown

February 1, 1936 - July 30, 2017