Topic starter
05/12/2006 4:05 am
Hi Steamboaters,
I had the honor to pay my respects to a friend of yours today. I knew her only a short time, but well enough to admire her sparkling spirit and love for the river and steamboating. Mrs. Lorena Brown passed away on Thursday, Nov. 30th, at the age of 83. Her life was celebrated today, with family and friends present.
I know many of you know the Browns and thought it appropriate to pass along the news of her passing.
Best regards,
Tim
05/12/2006 5:18 am
Dear Tim:
News just came this evening when I returned home from Capt. Bil Judd Re: the passing of Lorena Brown. I was busy from Friday until Sunday and gone most of today later. To say I'm devastated in not knowing is an understatement. I was tied down here tending to two houses for family members and didn't see the papers. Had I known I would have been there. I knew Charlie, Lorena and family for years. Spent many a day on the Str. LORENA here steaming up and down the river and in their fine home in Watch Hill. Years back we'd all meet in river towns impromptu for dinner and good conversation. Lorena was always sweet, gracious and accepting of all the 'steamboat talk.'
After Charlie passed away Lorena presented to the Ohio River Museum/OHS a fine collection of materials collected by Charlie over the years. Other items from the Brown family were offered as 'free to take' at one of the S&D of Pioneer Rivermen meetings. In the Brown bequest were: photos, movies, paintings, drawins, relics--icluding old IDLEWILD life jacket, DELTA QUEEN magnetic compass from San Francisco-Sacramento days, letters etc. All was inventoried and sent to Marietta at Lorena's request. The steamboat photo albums are incredible. I worked with Lorena to have Charlie's movies of steamboats in and around Cincinnati converted to video tape for preservation.
Ann Brown and I were good friends years back. The Browns for a number of years attended the yearly meetings of S&D in Marietta. They were neighbors until the sale of the home in Watch Hill here when Lorena and Ann moved to the fine condo in Mt. Washington, Cincinnati near me.
To say I'm upset is mild. So sorry and beg your pardons. What can I say?
One of my favorites from 91 Qui habitat.
'You shall not be afraid of any terror by night,
nor of the arrow that flies by day;
Or of the plague that stalks in the darkness,
nor of the sickness that lays waste at mid-day.'
R. Dale Flick
05/12/2006 12:15 pm
What sad news of the passing of Mrs. Lorena Brown. Like Dale, I have known the Brown family for many years, have been a guest aboard their steamboat LORENA and always enjoyed visiting with them at S&D and other river gatherings. Lorena Brown was always a gracious hostess and her kindness, as well as that of the entire family, exemplified the generosity of river people. We have lost yet another great friend of the river and steamboating. My deepest sympathy to Ann, Paula and their families.