IN MEMORIAM: Barbara J. (Feather) Brown, 81;
Teacher Active In SUNY Life; Raised Family Here
ONEONTA – Barbara Joan (Feather) Brown, a retired teacher active in community and conservation causes who raised her family in Oneonta, died Aug. 28, 2015, at Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, surrounded by family, following a brief illness. She was 81.
She was born Jan. 4, 1934, in Uniontown, Pa., the youngest of four children, to Karl Ward Feather and Emma Sybil (Castle) Feather, her parents both teachers in Preston County, W.Va., schools. She attended Tunneltown, W.Va., schools, graduating from Tunnelton High School in 1953.
She participated in 4-H and her school newspaper, receiving awards for her fast typing and 4-H projects, and was a correspondent for The Dominion News (now Dominion Post) of Morgantown, W.Va., for several years. She was pianist for the United Methodist Church in Tunnelton, W.Va., from 1947-53.
She became a teacher in Preston County and Brooke County, W.Va., schools, and while an elementary music teacher in Rowlesburg, W.Va., met her future husband, Foster L. Brown, then a Rowlesburg High School science teacher. The couple was married in Tunnelton on Sept. 1, 1956, by her father-in-law, the Rev. Durward B. Brown, and was wed for 24 years.
Her two children were born in Sayre, Pa., and while her husband’s academic career took the family from Sayre to Elmira, N.Y., Ithaca, N.Y., and finally Oneonta, N.Y., she taught elementary school and attended Bethany College in Bethany, W.Va., Elmira College, and Cornell University.
From 1964 through 1980, she raised her family in Oneonta, and was active in the SUNY Oneonta Faculty Wives Association, the Audubon Society, The New-York Historical Society, March of Dimes, Heart Fund, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the Catskill Symphony, and church and school music programs.
She was a first-aid instructor, and typist and copy editor for her husband’s 1965 book “Statistical Concepts,” published by Harper & Row, which became the world’s best-selling paperback textbook on statistics, according to the publisher.
Following her children’s graduations from high school, Barbara moved to Syracuse, N.Y., working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She retired to the warmer climate of Las Vegas in 1997. During retirement she enjoyed birding, gardening, genealogy and traveling, often with her family, or with her friend Carol Holladay.
A descendant of the Mayflower Alden family and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Barbara was fond of her Appalachian roots, periodically returning to West Virginia for buckwheat festivals or family gatherings. She was a fan of Frank Sinatra, Franklin Motor Cars, flowering plants, feathered animals, and all things Route 66. She stood barely 5 feet tall, yet was known for her pioneering spirit.
She is survived by her daughter, Celeste Brown Thomas of Oneonta and formerly of New York City; her son, Wendell Douglas Brown of Las Vegas; son-in-law Craig Taro Gold of San Diego; a sister, Elizabeth Boutillette of Kingsland, Texas; grandson, Charles “Chase” Thomas of Ithaca; a nephew; grand-nephews and grand-nieces; her former husband, of Oneonta and Sarasota, Fla., and several in-laws. She was predeceased by her parents; her brother Denzil C. Feather, and sister-in-law Marion Hoffman Feather, of Bruceton Mills, W.Va.; a sister, Helen R. Feather, of Morgantown, W.Va., and a niece.
Barbara’s ashes will be buried at her ancestral cemetery, Maplewood Cemetery, in Kingwood, W.Va., on Sept. 26, 2015, during the annual Preston County Buckwheat Festival. Arrangements are entrusted to Rotruck-Lobb Funeral Home of Kingwood.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The National Audubon Society at www.audubon.org. Sympathies may be expressed at http://memorialwebsites.legacy.com/barbarabrown/homepage.aspx