Myrna "Mikki" Brown

Mikki was born May 19, 1939, to Irving and Ethel Mikelberg in Gloversville, N.Y. She graduated from high school in Utica, N.Y. In 1960 she graduated from the University of Albany-SUNY with a bachelor’s degree in education. That same year, she married her college sweetheart,Gerald “Jerry” Brown. They shared 32 years together before he died in 1992. Mikki and Jerry lived in New York City, NY; University City, Missouri; Shaker Heights, Ohio; Oak Park, Michigan; and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Both her son, Steve, and daughter, Stacey, were born while they lived in Forrest Hills, New York. In 1970, the family moved to Michigan, where Mikki worked as an office manager for a law firm and served as a Girl Scout leader. The family settled in Broken Arrow in 1979; there, Stacey attended high school at BAHS and Steve entered the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Mikki and Jerry founded “OK Parents of USAFA,” a local organization which supports Air Force Academy cadets, their families and aspiring candidates. Stacey went on to attend the University of Oklahoma. Mikki worked at Cities Service as an executive secretary for 11 years before she retired. She was very active in the ‘Desk and Derrick’ professional organization and was an avid Mahjong player. She studied to be a travel agent and used her skills to plan family vacations. Mikki served as a Tulsa Airport Ambassador, hospice volunteer coordinator, and in multiple capacities at Temple Israel. Mikki was artistic, with a flair for decorating and enjoyed building scrap books for colleagues and displays for the temple gift shop. She also helped build shadow boxes for residents of the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center. In 1992, she became a grandmother to Wren Brown. Mikki moved her parents to Zarrow Manor, Tulsa, in 1997, where she was able to enjoy their company for four years before they died. Of late, she was the business manager for sweetheart Luigi Balletto, a local entertainer. Since childhood Mikki Brown grew a collection of tsotchkes and rich relationships and maintained lifelong correspondence with family and friends. Mikki will be remembered by her co-workers for her superb organizational skills and unbridled optimism, by her friends as an inspired decorator and constant source of support. Her family will always treasure Mikki’s love and wanderlust that she instilled in them while traveling to all 50 states. Wherever she went, Mikki enriched lives and was a ray of light. She will be greatly missed. A memorial service will be held at 1:30, Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at Temple Israel, 2004 East 22nd Place, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74114. Friends may honor Mikki by making contributions to the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center or the Saint Francis Hospice. Arrangements entrusted Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Myrna "Mikki" Brown

May 19, 1939 - February 20, 2011