Marian Browne

Longtime Rockville Centre resident Marian Browne died on July 8 after a battle with cancer. She was 74.

The wife of former Rockville Centre Mayor Donald Browne, Marian was known by friends and family for her wonderful sense of humor.

Browne was born in Lynbrook in 1938 and spent the early part of her life there. She attended radiology school and became an x-ray technician for a short time. She married Donald in 1961 and the couple moved to Rockville Centre, where Marian has lived ever since.

Browne helped her husband run the family company, Grabau’s Garden Supply, which was located where the Best Western Mill River Manor now stands, until the business was sold. Following that she worked as a receptionist for a chiropractor.

Browne helped Donald during his tenure as mayor of Rockville Centre between 1983 and 1987, sorting and handing out flyers and attending fundraisers and meetings.

“She very quietly and efficiently helped Don on everything he did in the village,” said Sue Oppenheimer, who knew the Brownes. “He was the fire chief, a trustee, a mayor and she was by his side all the way.”

While mayor, Donald negotiated with New York state to obtain the property now known as the Skelos Sports Complex and started what was then known as the Mayor’s Fund, said former Trustee Catherine Pucciarelli. Donald died in 1989, shortly after his term as mayor had ended.

Ruth Cooleen, Browne’s closest friend, remembers that one of her greatest qualities was her ability to make people laugh.

“She was funny as could be and she didn’t mind ever making fun of herself,” Cooleen said. “Her husband forgot her birthday one year, so she went out and got a license plate with her birthday on it, so he’d never forget.”

Marian lay in repose at the Thomas A. Glynn and Son Funeral Home on July 11 where a religious service was held that evening. Interment took place at Greenfield Cemetery the next day.

Browne is survived by her three children, Donald A., Michael F. and Wendy, as well as a sister, Mildred Mowerey.