Cathy Brown Obituary

Cathy K. Brown
12/08/1961 - 08/10/2025
Cathy K. Brown, of Austin, Texas, passed away August 10, 2025. A professor of Child Advocacy, she dedicated her career to protecting and uplifting the voices and rights of young people. She broke new ground as the first woman to earn a Master of Science in Fire Protection Management from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, receiving the Hawley Award for her thesis on the Americans with Disabilities Act and fire safety in schools. Cathy was an outspoken feminist and involved in many social justice causes.

Cathy was born Catherine Francis Brown in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Ann Brown, longtime consumer safety advocate and former chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and Donald A. Brown, a real estate developer, Harvard Business School professor, civic leader, and philanthropist. Cathy later took the middle name Kleebanov to honor her paternal grandparents. She graduated from Sidwell Friends School (1980) and Wesleyan University. Later, as a single mother, she earned her law degree from Columbia University.

After a brief career in corporate law, Cathy found her true calling in research and teaching. She served at Montclair State University's Center for Child Advocacy and Policy in New Jersey, where she mentored students and shaped the field with rigor and compassion.

In later years, Cathy moved to Austin to be close to her children and grandchildren, embracing her role as a "sweet little Jewish grandmother" with warmth, humor, and love. She poured herself fully into every pursuit she chose, from her deep involvement in local Alcoholics Anonymous communities to her commitment as a patron of the arts and participant in political protests. Cathy's commitment to justice continued throughout her life. In her home, her family found the protest signs she carried proudly: "Grandparents for Trans Rights," and another from a demonstration against ICE detention. She taught her children to think critically and to question everything, passing on a legacy of courage, compassion, and resistance.

A lifelong reader with a particular affection for Georgette Heyer, Anthony Trollope, and P.G. Wodehouse, Cathy also loved tennis, pickleball, distance running, and boxing. She delighted in hosting parties for any occasion, and her living room famously featured a life-sized cardboard cutout of President Barack Obama, whose presence never failed to spark conversation.

She is survived by her mother, Ann Brown; her children Lilith Smullen and her husband AJ, Abigail Mallick and her husband Rezwan, and Thomas Houseman and his wife Kelly Collins; her sister Laura Rodgers and her husband John; her nephew Richard; and her beloved grandchildren Jonah, Alma, and Amal. She was predeceased by her father, Donald A. Brown (2019).

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in her honor be made to Planned Parenthood of Central Texas, Generation Hope, and Out Youth. Memorial service details to follow.