Clara Mae Browning

A Celebration of Clara’s Life is planned for 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Monday, April 9, at the Simonton Community Church, 9703 FM 1489, and all are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Clara’s name to the Simonton Community Church (simontonchurch.org) building fund dedicated to refurbishing the original chapel that holds many warm memories for the Brownings. Clara Mae Browning, First Lady of Valley Lodge, passed away peacefully March 31, 2018, in Austin, where she had been recovering after a recent hospitalization. Frank Sinatra was on the radio and “That’s Life” filled the air. In Austin, her family was always nearby, her friends kept in touch and she enjoyed rehabbing and chatting with every nurse, therapist, and aide she met. Throughout her life, Clara ensured that everyone became a friend. If she was introduced to someone new, she would quickly find out that they had mutual friends, relatives, or had lived near one another. During her final years, she gamely faced several medical challenges, a Brazos River flood, and the deaths of close family members. But, Like Old Blue Eyes, she knew how to pick herself up “and get back in the race,” looking forward to the next day and keeping track of friends and family. Clara was born in Sharonville, Ohio, to Clara Charlotte Thrasher Bosley and James Louis Bosley on October 18, 1926. She graduated from Union Township High School and went to work at the Army Depot. She met a Marine returning from World War II named Earl Leroy Browning at the grocery store. They married April 5, 1947, in Sharonville and were together until he passed away in 1989. Clara and Earl started married life in Chicago where he studied television engineering and she pursued modeling until Cynthia was born in 1949. They moved to the Houston area in 1955 mere weeks before Sandra’s arrival. “I wasn’t going to make that move with a 7-year-old AND a baby,” she often explained. Barbara arrived in 1957 and the Browning family was among the first to move to Valley Lodge in 1958, with their house a stone’s throw from the river bank. Clara remained busy raising the girls and partnering with Earl in their real estate company. She ran the office and when they decided to bring in a new-fangled computer in the 1980s, she went to classes to learn how to put it to work. She had a love-hate relationship with technology, but her computer was the pathway to email, so she once took a screwdriver to her PC tower as her son-in-law described how to repair her modem over the phone. She was an early adopter of Facebook and enjoyed keeping in touch with those she could no longer visit. She and Earl were original members of the Thursday night dinner group that brought many Simonton friends together over the years. (Ropers, she loved the catfish!) For decades, Clara was an enthusiastic volunteer throughout Fort Bend County. She was devoted to the Simonton Community Church and School, Lamar Band, Eastern Star, the library, Brookwood and Red Hat Society as well as many other groups. She never met a craft she didn’t want to try and loved ceramics, crochet, knitting, stained-glass making and quilting. Her pound cake and Texas sheet cakes were famous, at least among daughters returning for holiday dinners. She also served on the Fort Bend Appraisal District and the Simonton Beautification Committee, but it was her warm heart that created her legacy. As one of her Valley Lodge friends shared on Facebook: “She was our mother and our grandmother...our dearest friend...and our sister. Always with a bright word and a smile...a servant to all...especially the children. She has been a wonderful friend to me. I have such rich memories of her. She was our historian. If you needed to know some piece of history from long ago...she had it! She looked after Lisa and Brianna...because she loved them like her own family. Because in her heart they were. She helped us both when our husbands fell ill to terminal illness. She made food and sandwiches. She saw the light in everything.” In 2016 the Brazos River flooded Clara’s house and cancer claimed two of her daughters. Her steadfast friends were at her side to see her through these heartbreaks. She picked herself up and invented a new life in Sugar Land where she lived independently until early this year. Clara was preceded in death by her husband Earl Leroy Browning; daughters Cynthia Browning Walker and Barbara Browning Rawlins; sisters Sarah (Emma) Winters, Jessie Thompson, Virginia Barr and brother James Bosley. She is survived by her daughter, Sandra Browning Kleinsasser and husband Roy of Austin; sons-in-law David Rawlins of Sugar Land and Kevin Walker of Plano; grandsons, Karl Kleinsasser of Austin, James Walker of Plano, Nicholas Walker of San Antonio; and nieces Susan Schmidthorst (Gary), Jane Disher (Alan), Connie Bosley Ferrell (Frank) and Carolyn Adams; and nephew Steve Barr (Kathy); and their cherished families. A Celebration of Clara’s Life is planned for 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Monday, April 9, at the Simonton Community Church, 9703 FM 1489, and all are welcome. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Clara’s name to the Simonton Community Church (simontonchurch.org) building fund dedicated to refurbishing the original chapel that holds many warm memories for the Brownings. The family wishes to extend their gratitude to Clara’s many wonderful and supportive friends. We also wish to thank the staff at Brookdale Spicewood Springs for the loving care Clara received. *** Clara asked us to share this poem: When I Am Gone When I am gone release me Let me go, I have so many things to see and do You mustn't tie yourself to me with tears Be happy that we had so many beautiful years I gave to you my love You can only guess how much you gave me in happiness I thank you for the love you each have shown But now it's time I travel alone So grieve awhile for me, if grieve you must Then let your grief be comforted by my trust It's only for awhile that we must part So bless the memories within your heart I won't be far away, for life goes on So if you need me, call and I will come Though you can't see or touch me, I'll be near And if you listen within your heart you'll hear All my love around you soft and clear And then when you must come this way alone I'll greet you with a smile and say "Welcome Home." - Author Unknown

Tributes

Clara Mae Browning

October 18, 1926 - March 31, 2018