Obituary of Mattie Sue Brown

Mattie Sue was born on October 27, 1922, in Person County, North Carolina to John Williams and Emma Gilmore. She and her sister Mary grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They spent a few of their early years in the “country” with their grandparents after the death of their father, when Mattie Sue was just 2 years old.

Mattie Sue was an excellent student who had a photographic memory. She could still recite her parts and sing the songs from her school plays. When she was 11 years old she was hit by an ice truck that left her with a broken leg, unconscious for two weeks, and out of school for a full year. This was the end of her photographic memory (as she would tell it) and the beginning of the broken leg stories at the doctor’s office for the rest of her life, and the catalyst for her rooting for Duke University sports teams (Duke University Hospital saved her leg). Mom loved all sports and especially enjoyed watching them on TV with her son-in-law James Sloan with whom she lived along with her daughter Joan for the last 25 years of her life.

Mattie Sue graduated from Orange County Training School in 1943 and spent two years at Bennett College.  She then moved north, first to New York, and then to Philadelphia, where she met Esmond F. Brown, who she married after a courtship of just three months. Esmond and Mattie were married for almost 50 years and had three daughters, Joan, Phyllis and Maryann.   

Mattie Sue loved her daughters unconditionally and taught them the importance of family. She attended all of their school events, recitals and extracurricular activities, choosing employment that allowed her to do so. And although money was often tight, Mattie Sue made sure her girls had music, dance and art lessons, joined the Girl Scouts and went away to camp. She valued education and instilled those values in her daughters. All of her children went to college, and all three of her grandchildren, Tswana, Oliver and Andre have college degrees.  Mattie Sue nurtured and cared for each of her grandchildren during their formative years, teaching them about family, loyalty and the importance of hard work. She called hard working people “smart”. She also taught them how to play cards for money and cut them no slack when they loss. Mattie Sue loved games of chance, first bingo and then the slots at the casino, where she spent a good deal of time in her senior years.

Mattie Sue was a lifelong learner who graduated from Berean Institute in beauty culture, took classes at Temple University for nutrition, and was trained in dressmaking, millinery, home healthcare and more. She had so many talents. She made Easter outfits for her girls, did hair for friends and neighbors, and had quite the green thumb when it came to gardening. She was also good with a hammer and nail and “dangerous” with a paint brush. Mattie Sue was also a great sales woman who sold hair ribbons and stockings, before panty hose, and once sold over 5,000 bottles of Skin So Soft, winning a fur coat and sterling silverware from Avon.

Mattie Sue worked tirelessly for the community as a social service aid and a community organizer for the Philadelphia Anti-Poverty Commission. She was a blessing to many in this role, securing services and opportunities for many.  She retired after over 20 years of employment from what would later be called The Mayor’s Office of Community Service.

Mattie Sue was a member of Foster Memorial Baptist church who served on the scholarship committee raising money by selling her delicious dinners. She made sure her daughters attended Sunday School and church regularly, always wearing their Sunday best. She was also a long time and dedicated member of the Matron’s club.   

She leaves to mourn her three daughters: Joan Sloan (James Sloan), Phyllis Hill (Robert Hill Sr.)  and Maryann Burno (Derrick Burno); their three children Tswana Sewell, Andre Brown and Oliver Frazier; her niece Lynn Frazier, and her two children, Brandon Burwell and Kristen Burwell; all who called her  grandmom, Adrienne Brown, Jason Sloan, Jared Sloan, Jonathan Sloan and Calotta Brown; one sister-in-law, Evelyn Joseph; and cousins Gloria Keller who she graciously took into her home, and Joanne Farrah who shared her birthday and love for each other; and good friends Helen Smith, who enjoyed going with her to her “job” (casino) and more recently her caregiver, and Hattie Ruth Dennis, her high school classmate; and Wilbur Drayton and Albert Drayton her surrogate sons; and a host of relatives and friends, all of whom were special to her.