Orman Ovitt's Sister Passes Away

Arlene Gertrude Ovitt Brown
(February 22, 1914 - April 23, 2009)

St. Albans - Arlene Gertrude Ovitt Brown, RN, 95, a lifelong resident of this area, passed away on Thursday evening, April 23, 2009 with her loving family at her side. She was born in Fairfield, Vermont on February 22, 1914, the daughter of the late Silas B. and Rhoda A. (Chadwick) Ovitt. On August 11, 1940, Arlene married William F. Brown in Fletcher, Vermont. William died on August 16, 1976.

Arlene was a 1936 graduate of the St. Albans Hospital School of Nursing. She continued at the Hospital as a registered nurse until 1940 when she went into private duty nursing. In 1934 she became a member of the First Baptist Church of St. Albans and the Women's Union of the church. She was a twenty-five year volunteer for the American Red Cross blood drawings, a member of American Association of Retired Persons, and enjoyed volunteering at area nursing homes. She also loved doing her crafts.
Survivors include her three daughters, Karen Allard and her husband, George "Ron" of St. Albans; Marlene Brown-Bushey of St. Albans and Rhonda Williams and her husband, Charles of Snellville, Georgia; her eleven grandchildren, Mark and Heidi Allard, John Allard and his fiancé Lisa Harris, Jeffrey and Laure Allard and Timothy and Eileen Allard, Kristen and Andrew Bachand, Susan and Andrew Rainville, Sandra Raymond, Debra and David Goodrich and David and Sherri Raymond, Jason and Pearla Williams and Sarah and Tim Conklin and twenty-five great grandchildren. Arlene is also survived by her brother, Orman B. Ovitt of Fairfax and sister-in-law Alice Ovitt of Fairfax and several nieces, nephews and cousins. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her sisters, Dorothea Wright, Kathleen Ovitt, Barbara MacKay and brother Darrell Ovitt; a sister-in-law Ivy Ovitt, a brother-in-law and his wife, Donald and Thelma Brown and brother-in-law and wife, Harold and Elizabeth Brown and son-in-law Richard Bushey.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, at 11:00 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of St. Albans on Congress Street with the Reverend William Simmons officiating. Interment will follow in the Brown family lot in the St. Albans Bay Cemetery. Arlene's family will receive friends on Monday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Heald Funeral Home, 87 South Main Street. Friends who wish may make memorial contributions to either the Memorial Fund of the First Baptist Church 29 Congress Street St. Albans, Redstone Villa Activities Fund 7 Forest Hill Drive St. Albans or The American Heart Association PO Box 3049 Syracuse, NY 13220-3049 Condolences and memories may be sent to Arlene's family through www.healdfuneralhome.com.