Lona Brown

Lona May Brown

June 19, 1931 ~ November 27, 2018

On November 27, 2018 Lona May Brown passed softly into the Lord’s keeping. Born June 19, 1931 in Minneapolis, MN to Marion and Hugo Mogensen during the Great Depression, Lona was a woman who would see and overcome much hardship and heartbreak in her early life.

Lona spent most of her childhood in Rapid City, SD and had many fond memories of her friends and relatives and of that beautiful country. She did not want to leave, but at age 18 relocated with her family to Ogden, UT. A few years later, her mother married Olaf L Scott, a great man, loved by us all and whom we still regard as father and grandfather.

Ever seeking the truth and an honorable way of life, Lona was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and served a mission in Oakland California. She loved and remembered always the people she served there.

Shortly after returning from her mission, she married William R Brown, a kind and honest man who much like her had endured a difficult childhood and who sought a better life. They were married in the Logan Temple and had four children: the first Leigh Ann, stillborn, followed and survived by Debra Lee (Grant) Thacker, Julie Ann (LaVar) Griffin, and David James (Laci) Brown, all of whom reside in Weber County, Utah. She is also survived by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bill and Lona strove with all their might to provide a more peaceful and loving environment for their children than they had. They succeeded! Our love and gratitude knows no bounds. They set an enduring example of ethic and faith to their children and grandchildren. Bill and Lona worked hard for what they had and spent it wisely on the things of which many happy memories are made.

Lona was versatile, intelligent, and talented and worked as an orthodontist’s assistant when her children were young and later when they grew older as a seamstress at Donalyn’s Draperies, later Lloyds Draperies.

Her passion was reading and she passed on to all of her children a love of books and a love of learning and exploring the world through the written word. She loved gardening, her dogs, and hens and passed her love and compassion for them onto her children from an early age. Industrious and determined, she somehow found the energy to keep up with all of this and more even into her old age when it became a significant struggle. Independent and tough as ever, she powered her way through, insisting on doing for herself so many things that we were willing to do for her.

Her children had the honor of providing home hospice, keeping watch over her, and walking with her through her last mile, a gift she returned by providing us with a testimony and a deep and abiding peace knowing without question that we will see her again and that all is well with her.

Our love and gratitude go out to her friends, especially the Nelson Family, Pearl Hunt, Rob and Mary, her ward and neighbors who reached out to her with sincerity and let her know she was loved by so many. Thanks as well to the IHC Home Hospice team for guiding us through her last days with your vast experience and compassion.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, December 8, 2018 at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s Washington Heights Memorial Park, 4500 Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.