Virginia-Lee Brown

Virginia-Lee Brown, 90, of Elgin, died peacefully April 21. The family will have a celebration of life June 5 at Faith Lutheran Church on Gekeler Lane in La Grande.

Virginia, who was known as Lee to her friends, was born Sept. 13, 1919, in San Francisco, Calif., to John and Leonie (Plaa) Hosta. She grew up in San Francisco and Redwood City, Calif. After graduating from high school she attended two years of college in San Francisco.

Virginia worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. until World War II when she went to work for the Navy as a secretary.

In 1944 she met Norman H. Brown from Erie, Pa., and they married. They lived most of their lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lee worked as a secretary to the sales manager at Patrick & Co.

When they retired they bought homes in Watsonville, Calif., and then in Redding, Calif. Lee and Norm enjoyed traveling and took several cruises as well as crossing the country in their motor home to visit their son in Connecticut.

In their early retirement the couple did volunteer work. They kept a winter home in Mesa, Ariz., where they could escape the cold weather. Norman suffered a stroke in 1994 and they moved to Elgin to be close to their daughter.

Lee was one of the founding members of the Elgin Garden Club. Gardening was her passion and she especially loved roses and tulips. Warm spring days would find Lee weeding her flowers and putting in bedding plants. Lee's other passion was reading. Up until her death she could be found enjoying large-print books from local libraries. Lee loved to sew and knit clothing for her family.

She is survived by her son, Norman H. Brown Jr. of New Canaan, Conn., and Nancy-Lee Noell of Elgin; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by Norman in October of 2000.

In lieu of flowers her family would like donations to be made to Elgin Public Library to increase their large-print book section.

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