Catherine M. (Desautels) Brown

On Monday April 11th, Catherine M. Brown of York, Maine passed away at her youngest daughter’s home after a period of failing health. Catherine was born on April 27th, 1937 in Turners Falls, MA to Wallace and Marian Desautels and grew up with her sister, Carol, and two brothers, Robert and Wallace James, enjoying life in a small town in the 1940’s & 1950’s.

Catherine married her high school sweetheart, Lewis “Bud” Brown, on June 22nd, 1957 and they soon bought and renovated their first home in Stockbridge, MA. Soon this home was filled with three daughters—Sandy, Patty and Susie—and Cathy fell into her role of being a mother with ease and contentedness.

In 1965, the family moved to an old farmhouse in York, Maine. During this time, a small farm sprouted complete with a few sheep, pigs, horses and an occasional cow. As her girls grew, Cathy became a Brownie & Girl Scout leader as well as a 4H leader always providing crafts and activities for her troops which led to her next endeavor. In 1975, Lewis and Cathy built a new home on Route 1 and Cathy opened Country Crafts, a crafting store with yarns from her sheep, needlework, beads, felt and all things crafty. Cathy ran the store for fifteen years taking pride in managing all aspects of the business. After this she worked part time in retail for a time collecting jewelry from Napier and adorable clothes for her grandchildren from Hart Strings. She settled into retirement and maintained her tradition of Sunday dinners with family. After Bud passed in 2015, Cathy decided to downsize and sold her home of forty years and moved to Deerfield Place. There she met many friends and spent time doting on her pug, Emma, and later her miniature poodle, Coco.

Cathy’s great pride has always been her family and her pups. She was predeceased by her husband, Bud and her siblings Bobbie, Carol and Jimmy. She is survived by her eldest daughter, Sandra Mauro, and spouse, Frank Mauro of South Berwick; her middle daughter, Patricia Valle and husband, Mark Valle of York; and youngest daughter, Susan Kelly Westman and spouse, Craig Westman of York; 6 grandchildren, ten great grandchildren with two more on the way, and her beloved companion for the last three years, Coco.

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