Joan Eleanor Brown

Joan Eleanor Staub Brown, 90, died April 1, 2026 at the Casa de Luna Care Home in Tucson, Arizona under the compassionate care of the TMC Hospice team.

Joan was born in Rochester, New York, the first of four children to Eleanor and Wilfred Staub. In childhood she honed a strong work ethic helping around the house, watching her younger siblings, working at a local drug store, and through her love for swimming, lifeguarding and teaching youngsters to swim during her summers. In 1957, Joan became the first in her family to earn a Bachelor’s degree, studying Education at Buffalo State Teacher’s College, where she excelled in the sciences, varsity swimming, cheerleading and campus leadership. An auspicious “blind date” with a tall, handsome medical intern, James C. Brown, MD, famously led to an exciting and fruitful 65-year marriage producingfive children, twelve grandchildren, and three great grandchildren to date. Jim preceded Joan in death in August 2022, and to the end with great love and affection their partnership flourished. Their relationship served as a model for our family, and in retrospect feels like a wonderful epic journey. As parents, they boldly moved our family across the country from New York to Arizona, where we discovered the beauty of Lake Powell and enjoyed family trips to California’s beaches.

Indeed, the family adventures have created many wonderful stories which will sustain her surviving family, brother John (Rochester), sister Patricia (and her partner Bob Tyson, New Jersey), brother Martin (and his wife Pam, Rochester), children Karen Lane (husband Walter Lane, grandchildren Dylan and Emma, great grandson Chase, Tucson), James C. Brown, Jr. (wife DeeAnna Brown, granddaughter Paige Brown, great granddaughter Brooke and grandson James C. Brown, III, Phoenix), Kimberly Hathaway (husband Robert Hathaway, granddaughter Rachel, her husband Aaron Matthews, great grandson Ronan, and grandsons Noah and Benjamin, Wisconsin), Mark Brown (wife Ingrid Nystrom, grandsonNathan and his wife Astrid Hengartner, California, and granddaughter Alexandra, Texas), and Kate Krenke (husband Jason Krenke, grandchildren Delaney, Molly and Piper, Queen Creek, Arizona).

Throughout her life, Joan was the emotional center of her family, creating a loving, warm, and nurturing home for family and friends alike. She had an artistic flair that led her to excel with interior design, painting, quilting and stained-glass work. She was a gifted gardener with a “green thumb” and also adevoted dog lover. Beginning in her 60s, she became a superb potter and taught her grandkids to love art by turning clay on a wheel, glazing and firing the products in her own kiln. She had an unmatched capacity for compassionate caring, and an affinity for friendship that fueled many intense and rewarding relationships over the years. Her death saddens us, but we are buoyed by one another, the values she modeled for us, and the memories of a life so well lived