Madeline Josephine Brown
Brown, 94
Madeline Josephine Brown, 94, of Cotulla, died on August 5. She was born on June 21, 1928, in Buckholt, Texas to Herbert H. Fiedler Sr. and Josephine Guidi Fiedler.
She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Charles Vernon Brown Jr., siblings Tillie (Fred) Hillje, Herbert (Katherine) Fiedler, Leander “Landy” Fiedler, Frank “Pancho” (Mamie) Fiedler, Ray (Edith) Fiedler, Welton (Patty) Fiedler, Katherine “Katie” (Floyd) Schulz, and brother-in-law Jack Rymal and daughters Dianne MacDiarmid, Joan Madeline Stokes, and Loretta Louise Brown.
Madeline is survived by her sister Mary Alice Rymal, children Mark R. (Hanan) Brown of San Antonio, J. Alan Brown of Tilden, son-in-law John MacDiarmid, son-in-law Bill Stokes, Charles Vernon (Diann) Brown III of Cotulla, and Sandra J. (Ford) Taylor of College Station, grandchildren Suzanne (Robert) Paulsen, Denise Brown, Justin Brown, Linda (Michael) Lang, Josh (Mary Alice) MacDiarmid, Ian (Kristen) MacDiarmid, Cameron (Megan) MacDiarmid, Melissa Stokes, Angela (Ray) Thorsen, Benjamin Stokes, Brenda Davis, Amanda (Tye) Snowden, Whitney (Mark) Hemy, Emily Taylor, and Quincy Taylor, 21 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
The seventh of nine children, Madeline graduated from Cotulla High School in 1946 and attended Incarnate Word College before the polio epidemic and a failed crop cut short her college aspirations. She married Charles Vernon Brown Jr. in 1947 and they moved to the Brown Ranch in 1948, where Vernon was already in partnership with his father.
In 1961, Vernon and Madeline started a dairy in addition to ranching to help support their family, which now included seven children. Along with caring for her children and Vernon, Madeline helped with any ranch and dairy duties. She was especially content when these duties included horseback riding.
Madeline and Vernon were proud that their children all graduated with a degree from Texas A&M University.
Madeline began painting after her children were grown. Most of her work included wildlife and scenery of the South Texas brush country.
Madeline was a long time member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Cotulla, and was part of the choir for many years. She was active in the St. Anne’s Society, the Cotulla Garden Club, and the LaSalle County Fair Association. She especially enjoyed the annual LaSalle County Wild Hog Cookoff.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church Building Fund, 307 S. Main St., Cotulla, Texas 78014 or the Brush Country Museum, 201 S. Stewart St., Cotulla, Texas 78014.
