Disciples Divinity House

We remember Carol Browning with fondness and appreciation. She died October 12 at Montgomery Place in Hyde Park. She was 79. She was a musician, an organist and a teacher of piano, and partner in work and life with the late Don S. Browning. Born in Edinburgh, Illinois, she spent her early years on a farm and attended a one-room school house. She began playing the piano early in life, and was giving piano lessons when she was twelve. A music graduate of Northwestern University, she taught music, was an accompanist for the Lyric Opera, taught private piano lessons to generations of students, and served as a church musician for more than thirty years, including as choir director and organist at University Church. During Don Browning's tenure as Dean of the Disciples Divinity House (1977-83), Carol Browning was involved in the life of the House through piano and organ recitals and her famous "pie nights" given at the Browning home. Later, she became involved in research on the family in postmodern culture when Don Browning conducted a major grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., on Religion, Family, and Culture. Together with their nephew, Peter Browning, the Brownings established the Browning Family Fund at the Disciples Divinity House in 1994.

Carol LaVeta Kohl met Don Browning at the Disciples Divinity House when they were both students. They married in 1958, raised two children, and shared more than fifty years of marriage before Mr. Browning's death in 2010. Carol Browning is survived by her children, Elizabeth (Mikael Karlstrom) and Christopher (Jodi Ford); two granddaughters, Kristin and Livia; and sisters Myrna Beck (Lowell) and Peggy Quinn (Patrick). A memorial service was held November 14 at Hyde Park Union Church in Chicago.