Joan Katherine Brown

Rest In Peace dear Joan Katherine Brown, for she has died on what would have been her 66th wedding anniversary: November 20th 2020. It is a comfort to remember that first and foremost she was a wife who devoted her life to attending her husband and now can once again join him in the great hereafter. Joan (Jo) had been happily residing in the Lake Terrace Apartments at Shorehaven in Oconomowoc for the last three years. After a morning out and about, she gently passed away in her home in the best of all ways, for which we are grateful. She was 89. Born to Waldemar and Florence (Merrill) Pritzlaff in Milwaukee Wisconsin on July 31st, 1931, she and her six siblings grew up on Lower Nashotah Lake and attended Summit School surrounded by the Pabst Farms. After graduating from Oconomowoc High School in 1949, Jo achieved of Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Carroll College and worked as a medical technologist for Milwaukee County General Hospital. She married Bruce Conner Brown of C.W. Brown Printing Company/ Oconomowoc Enterprise in 1954. With a deep love of lakeside living, the couple built their first home a short distance from where Bruce had grown up on Lac Labelle. The lake would remain the center of family activities as Jo raised her five children. In 1978, they moved back to Bruce’s childhood home that had been in family since 1935. The lake was always by her side up until the day she died. Along with her husband Bruce, Jo was socially quite active being a member of the Lac Labelle Yacht Club, The Labelle Golf Course, Club Forty and the Investment club. Bruce and Jo were committed to their local community. They worked tirelessly to get the new YMCA built. They were also active in the early stages of the Oconomowoc Area Foundation and continued to be involved. They traveled globally, often on trips arranged by the National Newspaper Association (NNA). Because of this association, they were invited to The White House where Jo was thrilled to meet Presidents of several administrations. She wrote a humorous column in the Oconomowoc Enterprise titled “I must be nuts too”. Every year she helped the Rotary Club organize the high school post-prom, sometimes even serving refreshments in order to chaperone her daughters. Jo also enjoyed competing at bridge. Her group of life long friends met and played on a regular basis for over six decades. Jo is survived by four children: Bradford Conner Brown of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Gayle Ann Brown of Delancey, New York, Carter Wright Brown of Sunnyvale, California, Jennifer Merrill (Brown) Fisher of London, England, twelve grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. The grandchildren, of which she was so proud are: Rebecca Brown, Abigail Brown, Louis Moser, Rose Moser, Cally (Moore) Johnsen, Erin Moore, Madison Brown, Kimberly Brown, Agnes Fisher, Maude Fisher, Eleanor Fisher, Gene Fisher. Her great-grandchildren are Arlo and Francis Johnsen. She is predeceased by her daughter, Kimberly Foster (Brown) Moore; and husband, Bruce Conner Brown; her sisters, Helen Wehrle and Judith Woon; her brothers, Charles, Phillip, David and James Pritzlaff. In lieu of flowers, please consider a charitable donation to one of Jo’s favorite organizations: YMCA, The Lake Area Free Clinic, The Oconomowoc Area Foundation (OAF) and The Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund. https://fb.me/e/ddQZWBGRv