Marjorie “Marj” Lee (Williams) Brown, 87, of Colby, died Tuesday, July
6, 2021, at the University of Colorado Hospital, in Aurora, CO. She was
born in Oklahoma City, OK, to Mack Olaf and Florence Elizabeth (Wheaton)
Williams. She had one older sister and a younger sister and brother.
When Marj was 12 years old, her family relocated to Colby, KS, where her
father did carpentry work. At the age of 15, her parents divorced, and
her mother remarried a year later to Robert Richards, also of Colby.
This added two stepsisters and a stepbrother to the family.
Marj graduated from Colby High School in May of 1953 and married James
“Jim” M. Brown, on November 22, of that same year. Jim was drafted into
the United States Army and left for Korea just 4 days after their
wedding. To this union, the couple had three children. After Jim’s
return from the service, he worked as a manager of the Midwest Energy
Power Plant, in Colby. Marj took art and English courses at Colby
College. She was also active in the Colby United Methodist Church, where
she taught Sunday School and instructed the children’s Cherub Choir.
Marj belonged to the Colby Music Club, the first High Plains Art Club
and Hoe and Hope Garden Club.
Once her children were all in school, Marj went to work for Bill James
at Prairie Printers Inc., of Colby, where she did artwork and put
publications together. Later, she also worked as a news reporter for the
James’s Prairie Drummer Newspaper for 12 years. She and Editor Bill
James co-authored the book, History of Gem, Kansas.
After the James’s sold the business and moved away, Marj donated her
time teaching Psychiatric Remotivation classes at the Good Samaritan
Nursing Home. She later graduated from Colby Community College with
Emergency Medical Technician and Licensed Practical Nurse degrees. She
went to work at the old St. Thomas Hospital, in Colby. After working
there for 10 years, she attended Garden City College to earn her
Registered Nurse license. Marj then went to work at the newly built
Citizens Medical Center, in Colby, where she was the head nurse in the
Intensive Care Unit. During that time, she became the first editor of
hospitals new newspaper, The Health Harvester.
Marj retired from nursing in June of 1999 and went back to her artwork
by assisting Kenneth Mitchell to paint the large mural in the new Bedker
Hall, at Colby Community College, along with several other of
Mitchell’s former students. Later she restarted the High Plains Art Club
and started the Colby Writer’s Group. She publisher her novel, Secretes
of Roberts Mountain, in August of 2014. During the 2015 Colby High
School All School Reunion she was honored with the schools High Flying
Eagle Award.
For a short time after her retirement Marj worked as a reporter for the
Colby Free Press newspaper. However, she felt that did not leave her
time to work on the writing she wanted to do, or on her artwork, so she
quit the paper, but continued to write a column for them a couple of
times a month titled, Marj’s Snippets.
Going before her in death were her parents; stepfather; in-laws, Ralph
and Myrtle Brown, of Colby; stepbrother David Richards; great-
granddaughter Rayanna Marie Harsh; great-grandson Aaron James Brown,
Jr.; brother-in-law Myron Hankins, of Richland, WA, and all her aunts
and uncles.
Those left to mourn her passing are her husband; three children, Duane
(Velvola) Brown, of Colby, Allen (Debbie) Brown, of Tucson, AZ and Linda
(Rusty Depe) Brown, of Colby; siblings, Shirley Hankins, of Richland,
WA, Elizabeth Ann (Jim) Rogers, of Cheney, WA, Richard (Barbara)
Williams, of North Little Rock, AK; stepsisters, Vick (Ted) Rychlik, of
Ft. Myers, FL and Dixie Leddon, of Las Vegas, NV; 8 grandchildren,
Valarie (Gregg) Maris, of Tucson, AZ, Sarah Poole, of Wichita, KS, Holly
(Jerry) Lynn, of Cimarron, KS, Matthew Schrock, of Gofrey, IL, Aaron
(Maranda) Brown, of Salina, KS, Kayla (Josh) Jones, of Gunter, TX, Darci
Palmer, of Norton, KS, and Taylor Brown, 2 step-grandchildren; 26
great-grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren and a multitude of
nieces, nephews and cousins.
Visitation is 5-7:00 p.m. Saturday, July 10, 2021, at Baalmann Mortuary,
Colby, KS. A graveside service will take place at 10:00 a.m. Monday,
July 12, 2021, at Beulah Cemetery, Colby. Memorials may be made to the
High Plains Art Club and sent in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391,
Colby, KS 67701. For information or condolences visit
www.baalmannmortuary.com