Obituary of Kathleen Older Brown

Kathleen O. Brown died peacefully on June 13, 2015, after a long illness. Born in Charleston, West Virginia, October 21, 1922, Kitty grew up knowing she wanted to do three main things in her life: travel to Africa, attend college, and fly an airplane. She did all that- and much, much more. Kitty began flying at the advanced age of 14, first soloed in an Aeronca Chief seaplane, and received her license and was flying by late 1941. In early 1942, Kitty helped found the West Virginia chapter of CAP and also received her wings. Kitty's flight duties were to fly security patrols between Union Carbide and Dupont on the Kanawha River. Kitty graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in Education and a major in History from Morris Harvey College, her M.A. in Counseling from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Dr. Brown was a pioneer promoter of the importance of conveying anthropology's humanizing vision to students younger than college age. She started fieldwork with the San(often called "Bushmen") in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa, with Carl Brown's help. Together they did research and documentation in Papua/New Guinea, Australia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and lastly, Lascaux II. They did it all, and they did it together. On April 14, 2015 Dr. Brown was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal honoring and recognizing her service in WWII. Dr. Brown is survived by Carl, her loving husband of 52 years, many nieces and nephews, family and friends. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Dr. Brown's name to: Kalahari People's Fund PO Box 7855 University Station Austin, TX 78713-7855 (512)771-4097 Kalaharipeoples.org