Everett Howard Brown

Westbrook: Everett Howard Brown, 74, died February 8, 2017 at the Barron Center from complications due to Lewy Body Dementia. Everett was born February 26, 1942 to Henry F. Brown and Madeline (Dewey) Brown in St. Albans, Maine. He graduated from Hartland Academy and later served in the Army, retiring from the Army National Guard in 2002 as a First Sergeant. He was immensely proud of his military service. A gifted artist from an early age, he painted signs for camps on Big Indian Lake in his hometown before finding a calling as journeyman signwriter for companies all over New England. In 1981, while painting a billboard on the face of a railroad trestle, the staging let go and he fell. The fall ended Everett’s career as a billboard painter, but he never let it dampen his love for art, and he went on to become a sign designer for National Sign in Berlin, Connecticut. Everett never stopped creating or appreciating art, he lived and breathed it. He dabbled in watercolors and acrylics, sharing his artistic talent with friends and family and donating many of his paintings to charity. Later in his life, when he worked as a security guard at the Department of Immigration, Everett took great joy in creating paintings for his retiring colleagues. He loved to design joke cards and paintings depicting all the funny and dear things the person was known for. You could rest assured, if you did something totally ridiculous and Everett found out about it, there would be a forthcoming cartoon of it. Humor, like his art, was another one of Everett’s trademarks. Ask him how he was doing, and he almost always replied: “Finer than frog hair.” His natural, sunny disposition and droll wit put everyone he met at ease. Long after he retired, countless immigrants at the Department of Immigration would ask for him, calling him “that friendly grey-haired man.” He dated his first love, Jo Ann Calderbank, back in their high school days. In 2001, they reconnected and he moved back to Maine from Connecticut to be with her again. It was a love story he would share with a twinkle in his eyes. Everett loved the outdoors, and he and Jo Ann would spend hours in their yard. Some of their best days were spent bird watching and tending their many gardens. But no place on earth was more dear to him than his little hunting camp in St. Albans. Whenever he was there it always felt like he was “coming home.” He loved having others enjoy it, and always played host to friends and fellow hunters during deer season. In addition to his parents, Everett was predeceased by brothers Tom and Frank. He is survived by his partner, Jo Ann Calderbank of Westbrook; his three children, Erik Brown and wife Hiroko of New Britain, Connecticut, Jeffrey Brown and wife Angela of Southington, Connecticut, and Audrey Gaugenmaier of New Britain, Connecticut; three grandchildren, Leo, Robert and Devon; sisters Carole Ludden of Detroit, Catherine Brown of Dexter, Marlene Webber and her husband Richard of Stetson, and Jody Small and her partner James Austin of China; brother Charles Brown and his wife Sharon of St. Albans; and many cousins, nieces and nephews. He is also survived by Jo Ann’s children, Douglas Calderbank, wife Keri and their daughter Anna of Gorham, and Jen Studer, husband Scott, and their three children, Ian, Ella and Quinn of Georgetown, Massachusetts. Everett’s family would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the compassionate, gentle and loving staff at the Barron Center and VNA Hospice who made Everett’s journey a peaceful one. A celebration of Everett’s life will be held Saturday, March 4, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church, 810 Main Street. Arrangements by Blais and Hay Funeral Home, Westbrook, Maine To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please visit www.blaisandhayfuneralhome.com. Should friends desire, a memorial donation in Everett’s name may be made to: Barron Center II Alzheimer’s Unit 1145 Brighton Avenue Portland, ME 04102 Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland PO Box 336, Westbrook, ME 04098