Lucian H. Brown

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Brown, Lucian H. 91, formerly of Christmas Lake, Excelsior, MN, died peacefully on March 17. Lucian grew up in Wayzata. He attended Blake School, Milton Academy, and Harvard, which he left early to wed Mary Fisher in 1937. The marriage was the start of a seventy-year union infused by a love of children and family life, and a sense of humor and creativity. They raised their six children on the Ridge at Christmas Lake, running a photography business out of their home. They specialized in candid family photos, and their negatives have been collected at the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. Lucian was an outdoorsman, making his own canoes, tents, and gear. When he had three sons in the Boy Scouts, he became a scoutmaster. He believed that tent camping simplified life to a level boys could master, giving them confidence and teaching self-reliance. After retiring from photography, the Browns made a business for awhile of designing and selling kits for do-it-yourself outdoor gear and musical instruments. Lucian was an avid woodworker, and there was never a raw board that passed before him without an appraisal of its possibilities. He dedicated much of his later years to building adaptive equipment for the handicapped. For his community work Lucian was honored with the Silver Beaver award by the Boy Scouts of America, WCCO's Good Neighbor Award, and KARE-11's Eleven Who Care award. Born December 30, 1915, in New London, Connecticut to Elijah and Pearl (Crouch) Deaton. Lucian and his twin brother Winthrop lost their mother in childbirth and were adopted as infants by Edwin and Susan (Christian) Brown, who raised the twins as their own in a loving home. Lucian was preceded in death by his parents and his brother. He is survived by his wife and their children, Ned (Linda), Derwin (Ana), Wally, Jerry (Sharon), Peter (Ellen), and Sue Severson (Verne), and by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His family is grateful for the affection and care Lucian received at Woodlyn Heights Healthcare Center in Inver Grove Heights. Memorial service to be scheduled for May 29. Memorials preferred to the Assistive Technology Center of the Minneapolis Public Schools, scouting, or the Alzheimer's Association.

Published on March 24, 2007