Norene Brownell

NORENE BROWNELL

Norene Brownell passed away August 5, 2020 after 99 years of sharing kindness with everyone she met.  She was born in Bloomington Idaho, the second of three children of George and Enid Piggott.  She loved her time growing up in Bear Lake but when she graduated, she said she knew she either had to marry a farmer or get out – so she got out.  She borrowed $25 and took the bus to Salt Lake to stay overnight with relatives.  By the end of the next day she had found a job, a place to live and had enrolled at LDS Business College.  She had wanted to be an accountant but a councilor told her that nobody would hire a female accountant because they just quit when they started their families.  So, she trained in secretarial work.  She eventually shared an apartment with several other “girls” and kept in touch with all of them for the rest of their lives.

When WWII broke out, she enlisted as a W.A.V.E. in the Navy.  She wanted to see the world, especially New York where she trained for a while.  She was one of the first six W.A.V.E.’s assigned to the personnel office in Oakland CA. and lived in San Francisco and Oakland for most of the war.  San Francisco is still her favorite city.  She loved her time there and dated often.  The chief petty officer/office manager “Ski” told her and the other waves that if any of the sailors gave them any trouble to let him know and he would take care of it.  Since their office handled all of the transfers for all navy personnel in the area an assignment to the South Pacific was more than a possibility.  Mom kept in touch with both “Ski” and the base Chaplin for the rest of their lives.

After the war, Mom moved to Ogden where her family had moved for work.  She worked for Continental Baking for what she said was the second highest paying secretarial job in Weber County.  After meeting on a blind date, she married Arthur Brownell on July 1, 1949.  They were married for over 50 years when he passed away.  They had one son, Art.  They built a home in a new and rapidly growing subdivision in Ogden where the ward met in Horace Mann Elementary School.  She was proud of having taught a class of over 50 three and four-year-old children on the stage of the elementary school with only one other helper.  She was active in Primary and Relief Society all of her life, serving in many callings.    When her family was older she would work seasonal jobs at J.C. Penney at Christmas time and at IRS during the tax season.  Eventually she worked full time at IRS in the accounting department, which she loved.  After her husband died, she moved to Bountiful to be closer to her family.  She loved the new neighbors and soon had many dear friends.

She was a wonderful mother and grandmother.  She loved pampering her family and she worked hard to care for them.  She would travel to Bear Lake every third weekend in the summers to visit her parents and clean their house.  Her three grandsons loved to go to Grandma’s house where they would be spoiled and loved.  She also spent many years as a volunteer at the Weber County Library and as a Pink Lady at McKay Dee Hospital.

She was a passionate reader and got emotional when she described the Nazis burning books.  She always had a book she was reading.  She would bring home large sacks of books every time the library had their used book sales.  She felt terrible the last couple of years when her eyesight deteriorated to where the font on her Nook could not even be made large enough to read.  She loved crossword puzzles and did at least one per day, if not two or three.

Norene is survived by her son Art (Barbara), grandsons Alex (Michelle), Adam (Melany) and Sean (Rebekka) and great grandchildren Grace, Grant, Gregory, William, Nathan, Sadie, Emily and Bennett; her brother Ray Piggott, and many devoted nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the many dedicated and kind care givers at North Canyon Care Center in Bountiful.  Also, the dedicated Branch Members that visited often and gave love and encouragement. A graveside service to honor Norene was held by the family.

Order Video Slideshow