Martha Brown

Martha Ann (Heerten) Brown, 75, of Grand Junction, passed away peacefully on March 28, 2020, with her husband at her side, after more than a decade of battling cancer.

Known to all as Ann, she was born November 9, 1945 in Birmingham, Alabama to Louis and Martha (Davis) Heerten. The oldest of five children, she was raised in the tumultuous era of social justice in the south. Ann was one of many generations of the family to be members of Blessed Sacrament Church (Roman Catholic) in Birmingham, where she was baptized and married.

Ann, as a young adult, and her father spent many hours together relaying messages via HAM radio, first to scientists “wintered over” in Antarctic, then to US military personnel connecting them to their loved ones at home. This is how she came to meet her husband of fifty years, Michael Tober Brown, while he served in the United States Navy as a photographer. They married on November 18, 1969.

After many years of Navy life, one son and two daughters, and homes in Alabama, Mississippi, Maryland, and Washington, DC, the family settled in the State of Washington. They had one additional daughter and Ann built a successful career in medical records working at state facilities. She retired from the Washington State Soldiers Home & Colony in Orting, Washington in 2007. She was incredibly proud of the work she did, helping to care for our countries hero’s in their final years.

Ann was a generous volunteer, most notably for the Rescue-One (R-1) Volunteer Search and Rescue Squad of Enumclaw, Washington; contributing to the safety and survival of many lives across the forested areas of western Washington through the 1980s. This required hours of training in rescue techniques and life-saving skills. She and her husband also gave many hours to the Enumclaw High School Marching Band Boosters as all four of their children were heavily involved in the music program.

After retirement, Ann and Mike relocated to Grand Junction, Colorado. She was a passionate sewer, carefully crafting project after project for her friends and family. Her legacy and love for her family will live on through these treasures that sit in households across the country. Never losing her interest in HAM radio, she and Mike were life-long amateur radio operators.

Survived by her husband Mike Brown, of Grand Junction, and children: Charles (Ann, Fairfax, VA), Catherine Neville (Shawn, of Dix Hills, New York), Lizz Holm (John, of Leadville, Colorado), and Jen Baldwin (Jeff, of Fort Collins, Colorado) and eight grandchildren: Abby, Hannah, Morgan, Gabe, Sidra, Kiernan, Van, and Charlotte. Also, her four siblings: Louis “Buddy” (Beth), Mary Alice, John (Annette), and Edward (Patricia), all of Alabama; and several nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her parents, Louis and Martha Heerten of Alabama.

She will always be remembered as a warrior and a survivor, one of the toughest ladies we’ve ever known.

Ann’s family extends their sincere gratitude to the medical staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center and HopeWest Hospice, both of Grand Junction, for their combined years of loving and compassionate care during her medical battles. The family requests donations in lieu of flowers be sent to HopeWest Hospice. Due to the current covid_19 pandemic, there will be no memorial service for Ann.

https://www.hopewestco.org/donate/