Mary Brown Davis

On April 29, 1929, the sun rose in Prince Edward County, Virginia, on Mary Brown-Davis, daughter of the late Samuel Brown and Florence Redd-Brown. Mary Davis passed away on Wednesday, July 8, 2015, at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Mary attended school in Farmville, Virginia, where early on in life, she loved to watch and listen to the sounds of birds. She became the proud mother of her son, Charles, at the tender age of 16. They moved to Baltimore four years later, where Mary first became a housekeeper for the late John and Katherine Corasaniti. It was the cry of a three year old female toddler named, “Annlynn” right at the heart of this family that shines the best light on just what Mary's life was all about. Mary had a desire to be of service to others, a desire or mission she, without doubt, inherited from her parents. Mary raised and nutured three generations of children, over-lapping two families, the Corasaniti and the Best, for more than sixty years and continued beyond her retirement at age eighty. There are photos of Mary holding Annlynn's grandchild. After retiring in 2009, Mary continued serving and caring for her neighbors, volunteering in the office where she lived, checking on them, looking out for them, being up at six in the morning, and delivering their papers. Ironically, it was the one time that she was not there for her neighbors that she was in need of help. Her last seventeen days refusing to eat when she could eat, refusing to drink when she could drink, refusing to use her right arm and right leg when she could do both, all because she wanted to spare her family the burden of caring for her like she had done for others. Here she was being the Mother of all mothers, right down to the end – wanting nothing more than a sip of her favorite water from her son. Many, affectionaley called, “Aunt Mary” by her countless nieces and nephews, was preceded in death by: her husband, Leroy Davis; two sisters, Florence Brown and Helen-Washington; eight brothers, Branch Brown, Henry Brown, Thomas Brown, Junior Brown, Louis Brown, Jesse Brown, Andrew Brown, and Paul Brown. She leaves to mourn: one sister, Ruby Brown; one brother, Wallace Brown; her son, Charles Brown; one grandson, Kennard Brown; countless nieces, nephews, cousins, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law; and a host of other relatives and close friends.

Tributes

Mary Brown Davis

April 29, 1929 - July 8, 2015