Lois May Brown

Lois May Brown, 97, stepped into her heavenly home October 2, 2022 from her home near Bonanza, Oregon.

Lois was born to Joseph Harold and Edna Hunt on February 5, 1925 in Hermiston, Oregon as the second of nine children. She attended a one-room schoolhouse near the Columbia River and later Hermiston High School, graduating in 1944. She worked a year and a half at the Umatilla Army Depot as a clerk/typist while World War II raged. She then studied business and accounting at Oregon State College (OSU) and finished at University of Oregon in 1949, graduating with honors.

She worked for the Hermiston School District as a bookkeeper until her marriage to Grant Brown on August 18, 1951. Grant was a rancher from Klamath and a returning Navy vet when she met him at OSC in 1946.

Lois joined Grant at the Brown family's homestead south of Fort Klamath near Crystal. She quarreled with squirrels over who got to live in the old house, but finally won. Grant, Lois and their five children moved to Hildebrand in 1965 to get cattle out of the deep snow and for easier access to school, in Bonanza.

Lois began working as a bookkeeper for Francis D. Brown and Son, Inc. in Crystal in 1959. She stayed with them for 43 years, as they moved the office to Fort Klamath then Klamath Falls, and later changed the name to Circle DE Lumber Company.

In addition to working full time, she kept a garden, baked bread every Saturday, made gallons of apple sauce, accommodated her children's interests by driving them to various events, and wrote them letters weekly when they moved away. Grandchildren remember her best for her oatmeal cookies. She maintained a strong faith in God, often saying in her later years, “I'm a child of the King. With Jesus my Savior, I'm a child of the King.” She urged her children and grandchildren to “Look up, God is in charge.”

Lois is survived by five children: Fred (Ann) Brown, Brian (Danita) Brown, Janice (Cory) Lemke, Linda (Mike) Hartwig and Arlene (Rob) Koenig. She also has 22 grandchilren and 30 great-grandchildren. Her earthly shell will buried at a private family plot near Westside Road south of Fort Klamath.

A memorial service will be held Oct. 15, 2022 at Shasta Way Christian Church, 5835 Shasta Way, Klamath Falls, OR at 11:00 a.m. followed by a potluck lunch. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be given to the church.