Norma C. Brown, 98, of Oak Park, formerly of Melrose Park, Park Forest and Chicago, died on December 14, 2025, fiercely independent and fighting until the end. Born in Chicago on Oct. 16, 1927 to John and Blanche Pinches. Her mother died in a car accident when she was 6, and she was largely raised by her brother and father in Hyde Park. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and cultural anthropology with honors from Northwestern University.
She worked as a health physics research technician for the Atomic Project (code named the Metallurgical Laboratory) at the University of Chicago at West Stands. She tracked the radioactive material spills with her Geiger counter and met her husband under a desk there, when they were both trying to retrieve ball bearings that had been spilled.
She transitioned to Argonne National Laboratory, but after her sons were born, decided to make a career change and returned to Northwestern to become a certified teacher in Illinois. She was a master teacher in the Chicago Public School system and was a second- and third-grade teacher in Park Forest. During her tenure in the school district, she held numerous positions and was very active in the professional teacher’s organization. She was proud to be a representative with the local teachers union, negotiating contracts and working to establish a sick leave bank that supported teachers financially through long-term illness. She and another teacher founded and operated Co-Care, a nonprofit corporation providing before-and-after-school day care to school-age children.
After retirement, she and her husband spent many years traveling, camping, RVing and finally European trips and cruising.
Her new-found internet access allowed her to pursue genealogy, discovering relatives who fought in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I and D-day in World War II.
In 2018 following her husband’s death, she moved to Oak Park, becoming one of the first residents at the Albion on Lake Street. She remained its oldest resident, living independently, with a little help from her Oak Park family and friends to avoid moving what she referred to as a “facility.” She loved to interact with the other significantly less senior residents in the building’s welcoming lobby.
Norma is survived by her sons, Michael D. Brown M.D (Christina Marciniak M.D.) and Gary H. Brown (Nancy Hahn); her grandchildren, Laura (Fuentes), Matthew (Erica), Meagan, Catherine (Daniel Brodzik), Elizabeth (William Carter), Aiden, Madeleine, Hailey and Aaron.
She was proceeded in death by her parents, her brother Richard M. Pinches, and by her husband of over 67 years, Herbert L. Brown Jr.
Visitation will be held on Saturday, Dec. 20 beginning at 9 a.m., with a service at 10:30 at Peterson-Bassi Chapel, 6938 W. North Ave., Chicago. The service will be followed by a procession to Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery, 6001 W. 111th St., Alsip.
