Lynn Legacy, Edmund Carleton Brown Sr., Passes Away at 102

 

Edmund Carleton Brown Sr., 102, of Fayetteville, North Carolina formally of Lynn, Massachusetts passed away of natural causes on April 3, 2021. Edmund was born on October 29, 1918 to Edmund W. Brown and Ruth C. Reesby in Lynn, Massachusetts.

 

As a child, he delivered newspapers for the Lynn Item Sunday Post and the Pittsburgh Courier. In his younger years fondly known as Brownie, he participated in baseball and basketball and played for the Roxbury Panthers against teams like the New York Renaissance. In 1936, Carleton graduated from Lynn English High School. Edmund then attended Wentworth Institute of Technology and graduated in 1938 with a degree in Building Construction. He also attended the Essex Agricultural Institute during this time.

 

Carleton married Pearl Evelyn Anderson on December 26, 1942 in Lynn, Massachusetts. Two days later, he left to serve our country in the U.S. Army for a three-year tour in WWII stationed in the South Pacific. He became a Tech Sargent and received the WWII Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific Theatre Campaign Ribbon, Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with Bronze Service Star. Forever a student at heart, he continued his education attending small business seminars at Salem State University formally known as Salem State College after his tour. Carleton along with his wife, Pearl, founded, owned and operated Brown’s Cleaners for 28 years on Chestnut Street in Lynn, which was the only African-American owned dry cleaning business in the city. He was also a life insurance broker for 19 years, was the Afro-American Program Director at the Lynn Community Minority Cultural Center (CMCC), was a substitute teacher at Lynn Vocational Technical High School and worked as the Community Involvement Director for Walmart store #2139 distributing community funds and grants to nonprofit organizations for 17 years.

 

In the Lynn community, Carleton was a Freemason and President and founding member of the Lynn Community Brotherhood. He was also one of the 1938 founding members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Lynn Chapter as well as their first Treasurer. He served as the President of the Lynn Community Minority Cultural Center (CMCC) and Trustee of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Lastly, Carleton was a board member of the following organizations for many years: Lynn Arts Inc., Lynn Council on Aging, Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC), Union Street Community Development Corporation, United Church Family of Greater Lynn, and the Lynn Museum.

 

Lifetime Memberships: NAACP and Bethel AME Church.

 

Awards & Recognition: Point of Light Award recipient from former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William ‘Bill’ Clinton, Walmart District Associate of the Month Award, a congratulatory letter recognizing his years of volunteer service from former Massachusetts Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci, and official citations from both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Senate and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts House of Representatives also recognizing his years of volunteer and philanthropic work. He received awards from the Lynn Housing Authority and Lynn Council on Aging for his volunteer and philanthropic work and was recognized as Wentworth Institute of Technology’s Alumni of the Year in 2004.

 

Carleton lived to love his wife and family, to be helpful to his community and to make things better than he found them. He is survived by his wife Pearl Evelyn Brown of Fayetteville, NC, his children Deborah Evelyn Brown-Cooke & Charles Ted Cooke of Leland, NC, Revs. Edmund C. Brown Jr. & Joanna Nelson-Brown of Jacksonville, NC, Grandchildren Dawn Brown-Evans & Quintin C. Evans of Hope Mills NC, Edmund Carleton Brown III of Kalamazoo, MI, Dr. Michelle Pearl Cooke of Mount Pleasant, SC, Great grandchildren Quintin Evans Jr., Joel Evans, Aimee Evans and Isaac Evans of Hope Mills, NC and many of nephews and nieces along the East Coast.

 

Edmund Carleton Brown Sr. was predeceased by his parents Edmund W. Brown & Ruth C. Brown and siblings Phyllis Brown Dykes Hector, Robert O. Brown, William C. Brown, Althea Brown-Flamer.

 

Two Memorial Services:

• In North Carolina: Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 1:30pm at Rivers of Living Water Church, 1764 Bingham Drive, Fayetteville, NC, 28304.
  Masks are required if you attend in-person. If you attend in-person from 1:30pm-2:00pm, you will be able to look at memorabilia set up in the church and view the video collage of Carleton’s life. If you attend virtually from 1:30pm-2:00pm, you will only be able to watch the video collage on church’s live Facebook page. See below for further instruction.
  • From 2:00pm to 4:00pm is the memorial service. You must have a Facebook account to watch the memorial live: To watch the memorial live (on the day and time of the service), click on the link below and hit the “like” button and then click the live button: https://m.facebook.com/theniagara
  • Presiding: Bishop Johnny Rivera, who is pastor of Rivers of Living Water Church.
  • Virtual Eulogy: Rev Viola Morris Buchanan, who is pastor of Allen AME Church in Providence, Rhode Island.
    • If you would like to send flowers to the church, please use Ann’s Flower Shop, 5780 Ramsey Street, Unit 101, Fayetteville, NC, 28311 (910-488-4177).

 

• Summer 2021 in Massachusetts: Solimine Funeral Home, 67 Ocean Street (Rt. 1A), Lynn, MA, 01902 (781-595-1492). https://www.solimine.com. Date and time are to be announced.
  • Memorial Service: Zion Baptist Church, 4 Adams Street, Lynn, MA, 01902. Date and time are to be announced. Masks are required if you attend in-person.
  • Presiding: Rev. Bernadette Hickman-Maynard, who is pastor of Bethel AME Church in Lynn, MA.
  • Eulogy: Rev. Viola Morris Buchanan, who is pastor of Allen AME Church in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

Please consider the following charitable donations in his honor to:

• The Lynn Museum, 590 Washington St., Lynn, MA, 01901 (781-581-6200) https://lynnmuseum.org
• The Brotherhood of Lynn, 15 Coburn St., Lynn, MA, 01902 (781-595-9145) https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Nonprofit-Organization/The-Community-Brotherhood-of-LYNN-105624494375636/

 

The families of Brown, Anderson, Cooke and Evans thank you for all of the love and support during this time.

 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Edmund Carleton Brown Sr. please visit the Solimine Funeral Home’s Tribute Store.

 

 

 

 

Picture: Edmund Carleton Brown Sr. and Pearl Anderson Brown honored at the Community Brotherhood Club on Friday for their years of service to the Lynn community. (Spenser R. Hasak, Daily Item, 2017)