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Conway...Nita Jones Gentry Brown, 89, wife of the late W. F. "Bill" Brown, Jr. and of Main Street died Monday following an illness. Mrs. Brown was born on March 10, 1923 in Iva, S.C., a daughter of the late Emily Gray and William Jones Gentry. She tended to define herself in terms of others: daughter and mother of four. But with unflagging inner strength, abiding faith and a radiant spirit, she shaped and enriched countless lives. Mrs. Brown grew up in Iva, S.C., with her parents and half-sister Mary Edna. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, she studied secretarial science at Anderson College and became a breakneck typist. In 1945, she married Bill, a young Navy officer from Iva. Mrs. Brown was a homemaker in the both the mundane and the profound sense of the word. She did things right, complex fabric patterns perfectly aligned on the seams when she sewed, but without the shadow of pridefulness. With the same diligence, she worked to please Bill and the kids and to keep the peace on the family's life journey, which led to Orangeburg, Sumter, Greenville, Columbia and finally Conway. At every step she built lasting friendships. She listened to people and shared their pain. Her career, delayed until she was nearly 60, was leading the Horry County Literacy Council and teaching people to read. From a bottomless well of compassion that deepened after the death of her oldest daughter, Becky, at age 16, she drew upon words that soothed and encouraged. Anyone who wanted to see God's face could find its reflection in her tender care of her cantankerous father, her gentle mother and her beloved husband. Mrs. Brown's hardest struggle was surrendering the ability to tend to others as her Parkinson's disease progressed. Over time she accepted her new call to serve, this time as a model of grace, dignity and humility. Memories of the end of her life, though painful, are as precious as those of looking into the blue of her eyes or watching her cradle a grandchild. Mrs. Brown is survived by her daughter Suzanne Brown and grandson Sam Hodgin of Garner, N.C.; daughter, Marie Brown Strock, son-in-law Berry Strock, and grandchildren Jonathan, Anna and Christian Strock of Melbourne Beach, Fla.; and son William F. Brown III and daughter-in-law Frances Brown of Columbia. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM Friday from Trinity United Methodist Church in Conway. Burial will follow in Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbia at 3:30 PM. The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 am Friday, Nov. 23, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Conway. Memorials may be made to Trinity UMC, 198 Long Ave, Conway, SC 29526; or Mercy Hospice, 8216 Devon Court, Myrtle Beach, SC 29572. Sign a guestbook at www.goldfinchfuneralhome.com Arrangements by Goldfinch Funeral Home of Conway.

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Nita Brown

March 10, 1923 - November 19, 2012