BROWN, May
December 9, 1919 - March 1, 2019
May Brown passed away on March 1 at Sunrise care residence in Vancouver after a long and full life.
May is known in Vancouver for her work on the Park Board and City Council during the 1970s and 80s along with her involvement with numerous community organizations. She developed many lifelong friendships as a Liberal Party volunteer, organizer and advisor. May was a trailblazer, advocate and mentor for women in sports, business and politics.
During the 1960s and '70s May and her husband Lorne established and operated Camp Deka Boys Camp in the Cariboo District of B.C., providing a wilderness camp program that influenced the lives of many boys and young men.
May Adams' life began on a small homestead near Hardisty, Alberta on a wintery day a hundred years ago. Most of her childhood memories are of Strawberry Hill, a farming community along Scott Road in Surrey, a place she was proud to call home. May set ambitious goals for herself, persevered to overcome obstacles and challenges and with the guidance of her mother and help from her brother and three sisters began a teaching career. She witnessed the deprivation of families who became victims of the Depression and injustices suffered by the Japanese-Canadians who made up half her students. In Fernie, B.C., with the male teachers enlisting and going overseas, diminutive May became the physical education teacher and coach for the strapping boys of immigrant coal mining families. As camp director for the YWCA in rural Quebec she lived and worked in a milieu of two cultures, languages and religions. These experiences and others had a lasting influence on May and gave her a broader awareness, understanding and concern for fellow citizens. May was recognized on numerous occasions for her contributions to her community, city, province and country including the naming of the May and Lorne Brown Park in downtown Vancouver.
May Brown was predeceased by her husband Lorne and her siblings Milly, John, Eleanor and Helen. She is survived by her son Greg and his wife Suzanne, her daughter Barbara and her husband Bruce. She is remembered by her stepson Don and the family of her stepson David. May was honorary grandmother to Andrew and Kate McLean. May will be missed by her nieces and nephews along with cherished and loyal friends.
Throughout her life May had the ability to recognize and seize opportunities presented to her, and along with her inherited strength of character she forged her own path for nine decades, from humble beginnings to non-traditional roles that were at the forefront of a changing society. A celebration of the life of May Brown will be held at VanDusen Botanical Garden on April 10 at 2 p.m.
Published on March 7, 2019
