Crystal Brown
December 2, 1939 — April 1, 2016
A great and generous spirit passed away April 1st, 2016 in the spritely form of Crystal Brown.
Crystal was born December 2, 1939. Her childhood was spent in the Bay Area of California, where she earned her BA at the University of California at Berkley, and MFA at San Francisco State University. After graduating she worked 3 years in Laos, for USAID, teaching English to Laotian villagers, where she lived as the villagers and immersed herself in their culture. She then worked as a journalist several years for Dispatch News Agency in Vietnam during the war, again immersing herself in the Vietnamese culture.
In the Tri-State area she is most widely known as a storyteller, performing at many schools, parties and various functions. Two of her signature techniques was the use of string figures and dressing children (and adults) in costume and letting them act out the story. She also taught poetry in the schools, through the MD State Arts Council. Concurrently, she was the organist and choir director at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sharpsburg for 28 years, where she participated in all aspects of church life. She was an avid gardener, voracious reader, ecstatic poet, joyous painter, a most loving wife, mother and grandmother, trusted friend, and a lot of fun to be with. While mainly sweet- tempered, a feisty, steely core would emerge if pushed too far, or advocating for causes in which she believed. Hampered by the effects of Parkinson's Disease in her last years and months, she never lost her generosity or her sense of humor.
Crystal is preceded in death by her mother and father, Florence and Blake Eastin. She is survived by her husband Jimmie Brown, her daughter Blake Smyle, her son, Grayson Brown, her grandchildren Nicholas Moreland and Hannah Smyle, granddaughter-in-law Katherine Moreland and great grand son Maverick Moreland.
A Memorial Service to honor Crystal will be held Saturday, April 9th, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 215 Main Street, Sharpsburg, MD, at 11am.
May you be at the spiritual heart of things, O Wondrous One!