By Rebecca Billman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ms. Brown

FOREST PARK - Jennie Mae Brown was a principled woman who believed that hard work and education were critical to success.

"That's why she worked very hard within the Cincinnati Public School system and instilled those beliefs in her children," said her son, Champ Coy Brown of Springdale.

Ms. Brown was a science and health teacher at Porter Junior High School and a visiting teacher for more than 30 years. She worked tirelessly up until three years ago when a stroke forced her to retire.

Ms. Brown died Saturday at Jewish Hospital. The Forest Park resident was 74.

As a visiting teacher, she was responsible for helping underprivileged students overcome obstacles to their education. For example, if a student was frequently absent, she called at the home to find out what the problem was. If the child needed clothes, supplies or medical attention, Ms. Brown saw to it that those things were obtained.

"Her untiring effort to give these children an equal footing to succeed became her mission," said another son, Joseph Aaron Brown of Atlanta.

A native of Nicholasville, Ky., Ms. Brown was born in 1928 to Clay and Beulah Mason.

She graduated from Rosenwald Dunbar High School in Nicholasville and Hampton University in Virginia, and taught science and home economics in Indianapolis before getting a master's degree from Henderson State College in Arkadelphia, Ark.

She taught English at a Hot Springs, Ark., high school and in Istanbul, Turkey, before coming to teach at Porter Junior High School in the mid-'60s.

Ms. Brown was a member of Zion Baptist Church for more than 40 years and was active in the North Avondale Neighborhood Association and the Hampton University Alumni Association.

In addition to her sons, Champ and Joseph, survivors include: two other sons, Louis Claymont Brown of Piscataway, N.J., and Elton Lynn Brown of Avondale; two sisters, Ida Noble of Detroit, and Beulah Bruce of Richmond, Va.; and three grandchildren.

Visitation is 10 a.m. today followed by the funeral at 11 a.m. at Zion Baptist Church, 630 Glenwood Ave. Interment is at Oak Hill Cemetery.

Memorials: Greater Cincinnati Chapter Hampton Alumni Association, c/o Ann Anthony, 3931 Ledgewood Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45229.

E-mail rbillman@enquirer.com