Steven Brown Obituary

Steven (Steve) Russell Brown, 73, of Bristol, VT, passed away peacefully at home on June 30, 2025 with his wife, Linda, and his two children, Malaky and Min, by his side. Steve survived numerous illnesses and tragic events in the past nineteen years. Just when he thought that he had survived or moved on from one illness he faced another challenging medical hurdle. Throughout each and every one Steve was determined to meet it head on with unbelievable courage to do whatever it took to have more years, more months. For those who knew Steve, his sheer determination to overcome each obstacle was a testimony to his resilience and his engagement with life. About a month ago, Steve faced a recurrence of cancer that he had battled last year. The spread of this new cancer was rapid and widespread. Steve's passing leaves a huge loss for his immediate and extended family, his friends and all the organizations and causes he was part of.
Steve was born on March 25,1952 in Key West, Florida, the second son of June Francis Regan Brown and Russell Gardner Brown. Steve's father was in the navy and as a result his family moved several times while he was growing up. He often said laughingly that he had attended five different kindergartens and his mom, worried about the outbreak of polio, made sure he received the polio vaccine at each school. His constant friend and protector throughout growing up was his older brother, Kevin, whom he idolized. Steve often shared "Kevin and me stories" with his children and grandchildren.
Steve excelled in math and sciences, but his true love was history. He loved music and was a dedicated clarinet player throughout his school years including college. While Steve always described himself as a mediocre student, others viewed him differently. After graduating from high school in Stonington, Connecticut, he began attending Middlebury College in VT.
While already against the Vietnam War when he entered college, his conviction against that war and all wars strengthened. He became an anti-war protester and activist and at the same time began attending Quaker meetings. In the spring of 1972, as a sophomore, Steve met Linda Kessop, who was a sophomore at UVM. The first day they met they each went back to their dorm rooms and told their roommates that they had met someone they thought they would marry. In the winter of 1974 Steve and Linda married while still students. At the time of Steve's passing, they had been married 51 years. Speaking for myself (Linda) I can say that the person I fell in love with 53 years ago was handsome, smart, and incredibly kind. He had moral clarity that guided him in how he interacted with the world. That was the man I married and spent my entire adult life with.
After marrying and graduating, Steve and Linda eventually settled in Monkton, VT where they rebuilt their tiny house and became part of the Monkton community. They raised their two children, Malaky and Min, there. Steve always championed each of his children and was told once by a friend that he was Malaky and Min's biggest fan. His ideas with them were always big: a birthday party treasure hunt for Malaky that took kids into Bristol looking for clues and building a golf course in the backyard for a birthday party for Min.
Steve loved carpentry and eventually started his own business renovating and restoring houses and buildings. At the age of fifty, Steve went back to school to become a nurse, a career he had wanted to pursue since his undergraduate days. When he graduated from nursing school he went to work as a nurse at Helen Porter Hospital in Middlebury, VT, and was never happier. Although his nursing career was tragically cut short by an ambulance accident two years later, Steve worked hard to continue nursing by volunteering for Open Door Clinic in Addison County where he felt so lucky to be serving a less fortunate population. He also volunteered for hospice and became an advocate for migrant justice.
Through many illnesses subsequent to the ambulance accident, Steve persevered learning new skills, making new friendships, and strengthening old ones. He built furniture for his grown children, helped them with their home building projects, sailed on Lake Champlain in his small sailboat, walked with friends, and played with his four grandchildren. Steve loved living in Vermont and enjoyed the simple joys in life: a good cup of strong coffee, listening to classical music, following Red Sox and Celtic games, working in his shop, taking care of his yard, and listening to historical/political podcasts. He spent as much time with his children and grandchildren as possible, enjoyed walking with friends and getting together with friends and family and he continued his political activism. Steve's gifts of compassion, integrity, and strength of conviction will never be forgotten and will live on in us as we, his family, navigate living without him.
Steve is survived by his wife, Linda, and their children Malaky Cecil and her husband Rob of Ohio, Min Brown and his partner Christa Downey of Brandon, VT, and his brother Kevin Brown and his wife Sandy of Madison, Conn. He is also survived by Malaky and Rob's children Wyatt, Finch, and William Cecil and by Min and Christa's daughter, Liora Brown.
A celebration of Steve's life will be held at Tourterelle Restaurant and Inn in New Haven, VT on Sunday, July 20th from 2-4pm. Guests are invited to share memories, listen to music and have a bite to eat. Contributions in Steve's memory can be made to the American Friends Service Committee or the Vermont Migrant Justice Program.
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