Onolee W. Brown

Geneva- Onolee W. Brown, As quietly as she lived... Onolee, Lee, Mom, Grammie, Great-Grammie, Bingles... has left the building. Her leaving was as dignified as her life. She was not alone - either we were with her in person or in spirit. She made a forever impression on her family and those who loved her. She will be missed. She departed March 22, 2016 from the Geneva Living Center South.

Arrangements are being made by the McGuigan & Bero Funeral Home. A private graveside service will be held at the convenience of the family. In her memory please do an unexpected good deed for someone.

Onolee Grace Wild was born 94 years ago, October 9, 1921, on the family farm in Darien, NY, to Charles and Grace Welker Wild. She was the second of their four daughters. She graduated from Attica High School and Rochester Business Institute where she earned a degree as a Medical Secretary. It was there she met and fell in love with Richard Brown, a man who would change her life. When Dick was drafted into WW2 and knew he was being shipped to Europe, he and Onolee eloped. She took a bus to Blackstone, VA, where they were married October 3, 1943. He left for Wales and eventually landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. She returned to Darien to wait.

Upon his safe return from Europe they moved to his hometown of Geneva, NY, where they raised their family of three children, several cats (always black), a rabbit, assorted parakeets, turtles and fish. Lee was the ultimate homemaker. She cooked, baked, gardened, canned, sewed, refinished furniture, caned chairs and kept the home fires burning. She threw wonderful birthday parties, designed creative homemade Halloween costumes, filled magical Christmas stockings, read stories at bedtime and welcomed her children's friends into the fold.

Some of her happiest days were spent at the family cottage on Seneca Lake where she continued to feed one and all with only a two burner hotplate and an open fire. She loved sitting with the family by the campfire in the evening, toasting marshmallows, burning popcorn and listening to all manner of silliness. She and Dick relocated to the Adirondack Mountains after their children were launched and spent many pleasant days walking in the woods, making new friends and exploring their new surroundings.

After returning to Geneva they settled into their final house which Lee once again turned into a home where children, grandchildren and great -grandchildren could enjoy her company and delight in her delicious baking. She turned a plain backyard into a beautiful garden where today the daffodils and forsythia bloom and the cardinals sing happily from the pines.

Onolee is proudly survived by her 3 children, Constance (Jay) Covert, Margaret B. Baker, Richard R. (Patricia) Brown, Jr.

Her 15 grandchildren, Christine (Timothy) Murney, Richard J. (Nichole) Covert, Rebecca (Ray) Brown, Alicia (Pat) Farrell, Melinda (Chris) Burkhardt, Cara (Eric) Baker, Chad, Seth, Nancy, Gretchen, Jed, and Callee Baker, Jeremiah (Candice) Brown, Nathaniel (Nga) Brown, Elizabeth (Kevin) Haslam.

Her 15 Great-grandchildren, Caitlin and Matthew Murney, Sophia and Stella Covert, Jessica Brown, George, Russell and Allison Farrell, Shelby, Madison and Audrey Burkhardt, Hanna Kasza, Gradyn and Myles Brown and Tyler Haslam.

She is also survived by 2 sisters, Virginia Garrett and Evelyn (Clifford) Jordan, as well as many nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband of 48 years, Richard R. Brown, Sr. and her older sister Dorothy Sierk.

Hers was a quiet life, well lived. She thought of others before herself. She will be remembered and missed.

The family wants to so sincerely thank the caring, compassionate women who helped her live at home for as long as she could as well as the staff of the Geneva Living Center South who became a second family to her and loved her, laughed with her and helped her to the end. Your kindness to her and to her family was beyond measure.