Winifred "Winnie" Brown

Winifred “Winnie” Jean Scholtz Brown May 8, 1925 – March 15, 2021 passed away.  She was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan, May 8, 1925, to the late parents Norman and Evelyn Scholtz. On June 17, 1950, she married Robert “Bob” J. Brown of St. Clair, Michigan, and they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary in June 2016, before Bob passed away Oct. 5, 2016.
Winnie attended a two-room grade school in Aurora, Wisconsin, and graduated from Kingsford High School, Kingsford, Michigan, in 1942 and was a member of the National Honor Society.
After graduation, Winnie worked at Grosse Pointe Cottage Hospital in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, as well as the Michigan Bell Telephone Company in Detroit. She also worked at the Packard Motor Company during World War II, where she was the first woman employed and was a surface grinder working on a valve guider for the U.S. Marines for boats during the war.
In 1944, Winnie enrolled in the Cadet Nurse program at Harper Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit and spent her last six months at an army hospital at Ft. Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Following graduation in 1947, Winnie was employed as a registered nurse (RN) at St. Clair Community Hospital, St. Clair, Michigan.She met Bob—a resident of St. Clair—at a Knights of Columbus-sponsored train trip from Port Huron, Michigan, to South Bend, Indiana, to attend a Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game.
The couple married June 17, 1950, in St. Clair, Michigan, and celebrated 66 years of marriage in June 2016.
Winnie worked as a campus nurse at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, while Bob was a student there. After he graduated, they moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where Winnie worked at St. Elizabeth Hospital as the head nurse in the newborn nursery for eight years.
At 40 years of age, Bob returned to college at the University of Iowa in Iowa City to start physical therapy school. Winnie worked at the University of Iowa Hospital as a night supervisor in the OB/GYN Department.
They relocated to Green Bay in 1965, where Bob began his practice as a physical therapist and, Winnie worked in pediatrics at St. Vincent Hospital for three years. Then, she worked from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. in the newborn nursery at Bellin Memorial Hospital for 24 years until retiring in 1993, for a total of 46 years in nursing. She remained a member of the Bellin Retired Nurses group.
Winnie was very active, enjoying bowling, bridge and golf. She was a member of Mystery Hills, Brown County and the Northbrook Ladies Golf Leagues. She and Bob enjoyed many golf vacations around the country including Hawaii. Winnie was a charter member of a bridge club from Resurrection Parish that has been playing for 50 years, with only one other member surviving the group. She also played in three other clubs with her dear friend Bette Manders as a partner in two of them. She was also the president of her condo association for 15 years.
Surviving are daughters Mary Ellen Brown of Green Bay, Wisconsin and Margaret Ann Brown (Mike) Schell of Gray, Georgia, as well as grandchildren Nicholas “Nick” Brown of Chicago, Illinois, Benjamin “Ben” Morris of Gray, Georgia, and Kathryn “Katie” Morris DeBary of Griffin, Georgia.  She is also survived by sister-in-law Barbara Scholtz of Arlington, Virginia, niece Clare Scholtz of Toronto (Ontario), nephew Greg Scholtz of Washington, D.C, nephew Al Johns and niece Gail Johns of Rochester, New York.
Winnie’s parents, Norman and Evelyn Scholtz, preceded her in death, as well as her sister Shirley Johns of Rochester, New York, brother Francis Scholtz of Jacksonville, Florida, niece Joy Johns of Rochester, New York, and nephew Gary Johns of New Franken, Wisconsin.
Winnie has been a member of Resurrection Catholic Parish since 1965.