Christine Brown

YOUNGSTOWN — Christine Johnson Brown, 97, departed this life to be with her Heavenly Father on Monday, Jan. 2, 2023.

Christine was born Sept. 25, 1925, in East Youngstown, now known as Campbell. She was the second child born to the late Eddie and Mattie B. Johnson, and raised with brothers, Willie and Theodore Johnson, who preceded her in death. Christine attended school at Thorn Hill Elementary and graduated from Scienceville High School in 1944.

She professed her faith in Christ at an early age and attended Reed’s Chapel A.M.E. Church as a child, teen and young adult, and became a member under the Rev. F. D. Barnes in 1946.

On Nov. 26, 1949, she was married by the Rev. J.A. Phillips, to Nubron Brown, which spanned 29-plus years until his passing in July 1978. This union was blessed with the love of three children, Brenda, Nubron Jr. and Vernon Brown; both sons have passed on.

As a young adult, she was employed at the Ravenna Arsenal during World War ll and as a short order restaurant cook/dishwasher at Petrosky’s Restaurant on Federal Street in Youngstown. For many years, she supported the family business, Brown’s Sohio gas station (corner of Jacobs and McGuffey), as the bookkeeper.

The majority of her adult life was spent working in her home as a productive and supportive wife and mother, and once widowed and children grown, she continued to be productive and worked for the Youngstown Board of Education as the school “lunch lady” at Lincoln School on the east side of Youngstown.

Christine loved the Lord. A lifelong committed Reed’s Chapel member, she participated in Sunday School, the Senior Usher Board, Stewardess Board, Trustee Board, Laymen’s League, Missionary Society, Junior Choir (as a youth) and Bible Study Class. Her social and civic activities in life were: Science Hill Parent Teacher Association, Women’s Auxiliary of the Steel City Sportsmen’s’ Club, McGuffey Garden Club, Rising Sun Lodge, Chapter 82 – Order of Eastern Star, and sewing and aerobic classes at McGuffey Center.

Her talents and hobbies entailed flower and vegetable gardening, cooking, baking and sewing. Christine’s excellent culinary skills were appreciated by church members, as well as her family and friends. She received accolades for her lemon meringue pie.

Chris was a good person, kind, humble, a role model and a mentor, which endeared her to family and friends. Always a lady, she was admired and appreciated by many. The many people who crossed paths with her are better because she lived.

She will always be loved and remembered by her family for her strength of character, wisdom and determination to live her life with dignity and grace.

She leaves to mourn and cherish her memory, a daughter, Brenda Brown Williams; six grandchildren, Kenneth Williams II (Taanya), Simone Robinson (Nelson) and Naomi Carter (William), Katear Anderson, Shalandra and Vernon Brown Jr.; nephew, Winston Higgins; great-grandchildren, Rantavia Reeves, Rajaa Anderson and JT Roane, Leilani Brown, Eva and Gabrielle Carter, Kamryn Williams and Amelia Robinson; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Visitation will be 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, at Reed’s Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1939 Jacobs Road, Youngstown, OH 44505. At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, the Rising Sun Lodge, Chapter 82-Order of Eastern Star will do their burial ceremony, and the funeral service will start at 11 a.m. Guests are asked to wear masks and practice social distancing.

Services of dignity and love entrusted to L.E. Black, Phillips and Holden Funeral Home.

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