Mary Catherine Costello Brown

Because she so loved St. Patrick's Day, it is appropriate to remember Mary Catherine Costello Brown on this, her favorite day of the year. Mary Catherine Costello Brown was born in the Town of Byron on July 4, 1919. She was the third of Sarah Genevieve (Meade) and Daniel Augustine Costello's four children. Mary Catherine grew up on Sadie and Dan's dairy farm in the Town of Fond du Lac. She attended the one room Nels P. Anderson School. Her formal education concluded when she graduated from Fond du Lac High School in 1937, but her curiosity and love of learning continued to her last days. Pretty Mary Catherine and handsome Leonard Alexander Brown were married at St. John's Catholic Church at Byron on November 30, 1939. They were devoted parents of three children, Robert Leonard, Cathleen Ann and Jane Ellen. Mary Catherine and Leonard lived in Fond du Lac until 1997, then relocating to Watertown to be near family. Mary Catherine most recently made her home in Oconomowoc at Shorehaven Health Center where she passed away on February 25, 2010. Mary Catherine Brown was gifted. She generously shared her talents with friends and family and through her involvement with community groups. Her rural roots and Irish heritage informed many of her interests. She was a 4-H member and leader, establishing Fond du Lac County's first 4-H club comprised of city youth (fittingly called Green Clover) in the middle 1950's. Mary Catherine was a member of two Homemakers clubs and served on related executive boards at the county and district levels. She was President and a mainstay of Irish History Club for many years; she also served as a costumed tour guide at Galloway House and Village. Mary Catherine orchestrated beautiful celebrations of Christmas and of family birthdays. She was a reader, a writer of prose and poetry, a needle artist, an historian and archivist. Her grit, resilience and humor are well remembered. Mary Catherine Costello Brown is survived by: daughters Cathleen Ann Sanders (John David), Watertown and Jane Ellen Roughen (Douglas Howard), Madison; grandchildren of whom she was very proud: JoAnne Cathryn Jaehnke (Greg Paul), Angela Christine Sanders (Paul Krejcarek), Nora Kathleen Roughen (Jason Schmidt) and Hugh Robert Roughen; and great grandchildren who were her delight: Alyssa Jolene Jaehnke and Maxwell Jonathan Krejcarek. She is survived by a brother, James Daniel (Elizabeth Jane), her sister-in-law Mary Dougherty and brothers-in-law Donald Goebel and Celestine J. Will, cousins, nieces and nephews. She is further survived by her caring community at Shorehaven. Mary Catherine Costello Brown was preceded in death by her husband of sixty-six years (2005), her son (1963), her parents, two siblings, sisters and brothers-in-law and"”as happens when one lives a long life"”many loved ones.



Private family Committal services were held on March 2, with burial at Calvary Cemetery. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, April 10 at 1:30 pm at St. John's Catholic Church in Byron. Refreshments will be served following Mass. In memory of Mary Catherine, please read or tell a story to a child or visit a quiet woodland glen to marvel at the beauty of Spring. Memorials may be directed to Heifer International towards the purchase of chicken flocks to help sustain families in developing countries, to Madison Public Library Foundation for South Madison Branch or to St. John's Catholic Church at Byron. May the road rise with you, Mary Catherine. May you hear the lark's song.