Georgia Coons Brown

Mrs. Georgia Coons Brown, a former Muskegon resident and World War II Veteran, died on October 20, 2007 at age 94 in La Jolla, California from complications from a stroke after a long illness. The daughter of the late Mr. & Mrs. William Coons, Georgia Brown graduated from Muskegon High School in 1933. She also attended Muskegon School of Business and the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City. Following the outbreak of World War II, Georgia Brown became the first Muskegon County woman to enlist in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) where she was assigned to the Army Air Corps and reached the rank of sergeant. She was among the first contingent of female soldiers to enter Paris, France, only a week after its liberation from German occupation in 1944. On St. Valentine's Day, 1950, she married the late Garvin Brown Jr. of Sarasota, Florida. The couple traveled the globe while engaging in the import-export business, residing in Caracas, Venezuela for a number of years. She and her husband retired to Monterey, Mexico during the 1970's before finally settling in La Jolla, California. Her survivors include her niece, Georgia Marker Johnson of Bethesda, Maryland, nephew Kaye Coons of Cape Coral, Florida and nephew Ronald Brown of Tallahasse, Florida.