Obituaries

Dorothy Edley Brown

Longtime Riverhead resident Dorothy Edley Brown died Feb. 10. She was 88.

The daughter  of Mary (Overton) and John Louis Edley, she was born Jan. 30, 1928, in Pemberton, Va. Her family later moved to Riverhead, where she attended Riverhead schools and worked at Carl Young Farm, Hollis Warner Duck Farm and as a domestic.

She married Frank Brown March 7, 1948, and had three daughters, Shirley Diane, Deborah and Joan. Ms. Brown was a full-time homemaker and became a seamstress, using skills she learned in high school.

She was a member of the National Council of Negro Women, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of First Baptist Church in Riverhead.

Family members said Ms. Brown was “a woman of considerable grace, style and intelligence,” who taught her daughters the values of education and self-sufficiency. She enjoyed visiting Caribbean beaches and exploring other cultures, gardening, raising vegetables, growing flowers, cooking and baking.

Predeceased by her brother, Robert Edley, and her sister Shirley Fox, Ms. Brown is survived by her husband of 67 years, Frank, and daughters, Shirley Diane, of Baltimore, Deborah, of Calverton and Joan Brown-Smith, also of Baltimore; her sister Mary Robinson, of Riverhead; two grandsons; three great-grandchildren; and many additional family members.

The family will receive visitors Sunday, Feb. 14, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home in Riverhead. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 15, at First Baptist Church of Riverhead, officiated by the Rev. Charles Coverdale and the Rev. Cynthia Liggon. Burial will follow at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Center Moriches.