Catherine Brown Stillman

BROWNSVILLE, TX. - Catherine Brown Stillman, of Brownsville, Texas and Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the widow of Doctor James Stillman, passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, March 20, 2009, surrounded by her family.

She was born in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 22, 1923, the daughter of Sherman Lazenby Brown and Esther Elizabeth Lazenby. She attended Ursuline Academy and the Hockaday School in Dallas. She finished her education at Gardiner College in New York City.

Cathy, as she was known to her friends, rarely spoke of her illustrious pre -Revolutionary ancestral background, or of her upbringing. She was a direct descendent of Governor Bradford of the original Massachusetts Bay Colony of 1640. Her Bostonian roots led to a marriage with the Custis family; the most famous of whom was Martha Custis Washington, wife of General George Washington, the first president of the United States.

Her grandfather, Robert Lazenby, a noted chemist in Waco, Texas, bought the formula for the refreshment now known as Dr. Pepper in the early 1900s. Her father, Sherman Lazenby Brown, a corporal in the Texas Infantry, after a stint in China during the Boxer Rebellion, returned to Dallas where he became vice president of Dr. Pepper. Her mother, a distant Lazenby relative, had married Mr. Brown during the war having met him at a Sunday family supper.

One of four children, her family moved from Dallas to Atlanta when her father took a position with the Coca Cola Bottling Company. From there they lived in many places including Buenos Aires where they were neighbors of Juan and Eva Peron, eventually settling in New York City and later in Tuxedo Park, New York.

In 1952, she married Dr. James Stillman, an obstetrician and gynecologist, who practiced at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. They lived in New York City and Pleasantville, N.Y., where they raised three children; Alexander, Valerie and Richard (who predeceased her in 1988). In 1958 they moved to Brownsville, a community which her husband's great-grandfather, Charles Stillman, had founded.

During her more than fifty years in Brownsville, a great deal of her time, energy and resources were devoted to serving her community. In her first years in this city she volunteered with The Junior Service League, working at the Well Babies' Clinic. Later, she volunteered at the Thrift Shop of the Church of the Advent, where she was a member. She and her husband also helped fund the Episcopal Day School, which was attended by their children.

For fourteen years she was a member of The Women's Auxiliary of Brownsville Medical Center, now Valley Baptist Medical Center of Brownsville. For many of those years she was chairwoman of the Auxiliary Gift Shop at the hospital. Additionally, she was a generous donor to the nurse's scholarship fund of The Lower Rio Grande Valley Nursing Scholarship Fund.

Her life long love of animals led to years of generous donations to the Brownsville Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, the Brownsville Humane Society, the Laguna Madre Humane Society and Bide-a-Wee of Westhampton Beach, Long Island, N.Y.

She continued to fund the Stillman Chair at Harvard Medical School, founded by her husband's family which provides scholarships to aspiring students in the medical field.

In 2004, she received the Kino Camarillo award from the Brownsville Historical Association in recognition of her support of the association.

She will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Her children wish to express their heartfelt gratitude to the caregivers, and doctors, especially Dr. Roberto Robles, whose loving care allowed her to enjoy her life until the very end.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Episcopal Day School Scholarship Fund, Brownsville Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, The Lower Rio Grande Valley Nursing Scholarship Fund or The Brownsville Historical Association.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 3, 2009, at the Church of the Advent, Episcopal, 104 W. Elizabeth St., Brownsville, Texas.