Edward Brown

BROWN, Edward F. Born 2/18/20, died of COVID-19 on Thanksgiving Day, 2020. Beloved husband to Mary Ann; father to Susan of Monongahela, PA; Barbara of St. Paul, MN, and Matthew (Holly) of W. Barnstable, MA. Also survived by three grandchildren: Matthew Edward, Lexie Marie, and Isabel Grace. Edward (known to his siblings as “Bud”) was a long-time resident of McMurray, PA, but moved with Mary Ann to assisted living in St. Paul four years ago to be closer to family. He was born in Donora, PA. His father, William, immigrated from England; his mother, Dana, was from Croatia. He was one of eight children, and the only one to attend college, despite spending his youth skipping out of school and being escorted back home by the local police. He showed a talent for music and played the violin on a local radio show. He studied music at Duquesne University, but interrupted his education to enlist in the Army Air Force for WWII. He received his B.S. and M.S. in engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. His brother, Tom, who was married to Mary Ann’s cousin, Jean, introduced the couple, and they married in 1951. Ed worked for various engineering firms in downtown Pittsburgh over the years and pursued multiple hobbies. He built a classical guitar from scratch — it took him over a year — then taught himself to play. He took up sculpting, stained glass, memoir writing, poetry, painting, vegetable gardening, writing letters to the editor, and online stock trading. He had the logic of an engineer and the soul of an artist. Ed was smart, sentimental, affectionate, perceptive, stubborn, silly and curious. We will miss him tremendously.