Muriel Hodges Brown

Muriel Lois Brown, 92, died peacefully on August 27, 2024, in Hudson, North Carolina. She was born on June 8, 1932, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to Joseph and Carrie (Theide) Hodges.

The youngest child of six, Muriel held a very close relationship with her “Pa”, who planted the seeds for her lifelong joy of gardening. Her childhood reflected the lives of most families during the 1930’s and ‘40’s, where times were financially tight. Muriel was ever the “practical” person throughout her entire life, never wasteful, sharing anything unneeded with others, giving slips of plants to transplant and bouquets of flowers to others. Her mother played piano, and though Muriel had some music lessons, she easily picked up melodies and mostly played accordion by ear.

Muriel’s life was greatly affected when at age 15 she met Ronald Brown, the cousin of her oldest sister’s husband. He had just returned from serving in the Army during the occupation of Japan, looking for employment. Head over heels in love, they married shortly after her 16th birthday. Truly, it was a love match for the ages, as they literally built their homes from the ground up, in the Town of Hallie, Chippewa Falls, and south of Eau Claire in the Cleghorn area. Their three daughters were close in age, raised in the Methodist faith, and shaped by the interests of their parents, as their dad played guitar and mom her accordion. They loved to play “old time” dance music (waltzes, polkas, schottisches), bringing along their instruments to play with others at family gatherings, and eventually had a 3-piece band, “The Browns”. Hired for wedding and anniversary parties, they played Saturday nights at local establishments with dance floors, such as the Moose Lodge. In their retirement years, they often volunteered to play for residents in assisted care facilities. Muriel enjoyed hand embroidery and sewing Barbie and Ken doll outfits in her later years. When no longer able to live independently, she moved closer to her family in North Carolina. Muriel gifted her accordion to Patrick and Kay Crouch, music teachers who have a recording studio in NC.

During the elementary school years of their daughters, Ronald and Muriel fostered infants for the State of Wisconsin, until they were placed in families. Usually with two babies/toddlers at a time, everyone in the family was expected to do their share laundering and folding cloth diapers, feeding, and loving the 24 children whose lives touched our hearts.

Ronald and Muriel always made time for their daughters, becoming the youth leaders for MYF, and dad teaching woodworking skills and mom, sewing and baking skills, through many years in 4-H.  Living “in the country” with a one car family (which dad drove to work), we often visited the public library, checking out huge stacks of books creating lifelong readers of us. Rarely did they say “no”, when asked if friends could come for sleepovers on a Friday night. Helping with the Saturday morning cleaning chores was a small price to pay for riding horses! As their daughters grew up, their four grandchildren, and then great-grandchildren, were introduced to sledding on snowy hills in the winter and tending to the huge flower and vegetable gardens in the summer. They learned how to bake “from scratch”, and how to be a good hostess when friends “taking an afternoon drive in the country” would drop by to visit.

Muriel’s greatest challenge was losing both of her parents in 1960, her beloved Ronald in 2004, and her oldest daughter Elaine in 2015.  All her siblings and many lifelong friends passed away, while she lived to be 92. She missed them greatly and now rejoices as they are together again in eternity.

Muriel is survived by her daughters Kathleen (Barry) Mitchell of Hudson, NC, and daughter Bev Brown, Hickory NC; granddaughters Michele (Adam) Maxson, Carrie (Anthony) Vann, Jennifer Leonhardt, and Amelia (Timothy) Swenby; great-grandchildren Dylan Vann, Amelie Mitchell, Emalena Leonhardt, and Marley Maxson. Muriel was preceded in death by her parents and husband Ronald, daughter Elaine; brothers Stanley, James, and Donald Hodges; and sisters Shirl Stavnaw, and Marjorie Vance.

The family wishes to thank Grace Village Assisted Care in Granite Falls, NC, for their kind and patient care of Muriel, and Amorem Hospice in Hudson, NC, who compassionately cared for Muriel in her final hours.

Per Muriel’s wishes, a private graveside service will take place at Rest Haven Gardens (south of Eau Claire) at a future date. We thank Evans Funeral Service for their assistance here in NC.