Lyla Brown

Ione Brown, 99, died peacefully, surrounded by her family, at St. John's Lutheran Home on Friday, October 25, 2013. Our mother was born Lyla lone McFate on Sept.24, 1914 in Roberts, Montana. Her Scotch Irish parents, Frank and Anita McFate, lived in Carbon County where he worked at the coal mines above Red Lodge. There were seven children, lone, Daisy, Donald, Jack, Alvin, Anita, Leona and Ruth. lone moved to Billings when she was 17 to work as a nanny and there met John Walter Brown who she said was an older man, seven year her senior and he dressed always with a suit and a hat. He was working at a pool hall. They married in 1931 and John took a permanent job on the railroad to settle down and raise a family. John worked on the railroad until 1955 when the trains converted from coal to diesel and many jobs were lost. He worked at the 29th Street Enco station until 1962 when he and his son Paul purchased a service station in the corn fields at Broadwater and 24th Street West. lone worked at home where she was famous for her baking and seamstress talents. Most of the uniforms of the children at Little Flower School were made by lone. She also was active in the Church Altar Society and Billings Garden Club. She had a beautiful and strong voice and her children say that they could hear her above all the choir at Little Flower. The Brown's corner stone was always the home two blocks from the church which they bought in 1937. Their four children: Geraldine, (Ralph Hodges) Paul (Barbara Erickson), Ben (Karen Ebeling, Annie Braafladt, Barbara Doutt, Lena Essina and Tina Figarelle) and John Dean (Vicky Keller) went through parochial schools with the home as their center. They all survive and are retired. Adam Brown's children James, Dorothy, Mary Jane and Larry also lived in the house for years and call her Mom. The Browns and McFates were large prolific families and at one time in the 1940s there were 92 cousins in Yellowstone County. The families were close as long as the elder grandparents were alive. Gradually they began to spread across the country. lone was the one who always kept track of where everybody was and could name the children and grand children of each. lone was prodigious seamstress and worked in her sewing room like it was a second job. She purchased a very expensive serger and taught herself to use it. Every family member knew they would receive themed under wear for Christmas. One year she made over 80 garments which were proudly accepted and worn. lone worked for twenty-one years for Eddy's Bakery operating the company's retail outlet on 6th Avenue North. She was a labor agent for the Confectioner's and Bakery Worker's Union. She was also a Democrat precinct committee woman and a leader in the Business and Professional Women's Association. Always willing to take on responsibilities and to help others. lone was a perennial optimist and believed in the good of all men and the happy outcome of all events. She practiced this belief and helped others believe the same. No one has ever said or heard a disparaging comment about lone Brown. She in turn was never judgmental or vindictive. She was a committed Catholic and practiced her religion in all her pursuits. Just the past two years lone began to tire. She said she was willing to stay here as long as God wanted, but was ready to join her husband of 63 years in the next life. Recently she said she thought she 'was losing my faculties,' which comment indicated that she probably wasn't. Some days it took awhile for her to leave her reveries and connect with the present, but her long memory never left her. Maybe she didn't remember 15 minutes before, but she could relate something from 30 years ago. It helped that all her memories were positive. In addition to her own family, lone raised many other children or took in relatives well into adult hood. The Southside home was a refuge and center for countless relatives and friends and door was always open to anyone who needed a home. She moved into St John's Retirement Home in 2002 and said it was so nice 'I feel like I died and went to heaven.' Surviving are four children, 15 grand children, 28 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-great-grandchildren. Six generations of lone Brown's family. Service: Visitation for Ione will be Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Dahl Funeral Chapel with Vigil service at 7:00 p.m. Memorial Mass will be 11:00 a.m. at Little Flower Catholic Church. Committal will be in Holy Cross Cemetery following the Mass.