[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S178-S179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REMEMBERING JERALYN JOY ``JERRY'' BROWN

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, we have here a picture of Jerry 
Brown--Jeralyn Joy Brown--age 89, who passed away peacefully on 
Wednesday, January 8, 2020, at the Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital 
in Thermopolis, WY. She was surrounded by her loving family.
  For many years, Jerry was a dominant force in Wyoming. For the last 
12 years, she was the single most influential voice with the Wyoming 
Senate delegation. She is my wife Bobbi's mom. Yet Senator Enzi knew 
her long before I did.
  Senator Enzi.
  Mr. ENZI. I thank the Senator.
  I got to meet this delightful lady in Thermopolis, WY, some 70 years 
ago. I need to tell you a little bit about Thermopolis, WY, and how I 
wound up there.
  During the war, my dad was a welder on ships, and after the war, he 
moved around the country doing different welding projects, one of which 
took him to Thermopolis, WY. He welded on the dam there. Dams in the 
West are used to control floods. They are big projects, and they have a 
huge impact on communities. This particular one not only controlled 
floods, but it turned into a great fishery.
  My folks went to Thermopolis, WY, and they also built a trailer park. 
It was the first modern trailer park in Thermopolis. By ``modern,'' I 
mean there was a central building that had indoor showers and flush 
toilets.
  You need to understand a little bit about Wyoming. We are small. At 
that time, there were two cities in Wyoming. To be a city, you had to 
have more than 3,000 in population. As soon as you had 3,000 in 
population, you could declare yourself a first-class city. In those 
early days, Casper--the energy capital at that time--and Cheyenne--the 
State capital at that time--exceeded 3,000.
  What effect did that have on the communities? The Presbyterians, the 
Methodists, and the Congregationalists got together and divided up the 
towns that were small, realizing that they couldn't support all three 
churches. There was one town that was so small that they actually got 
together and formed a community church.
  What is a community church? That is where these three denominations 
worked together. At one time, there would be a Presbyterian minister 
who was there, and 2 years later, there would be a Methodist minister 
who was there and, 2 years later, a Congregational minister who was 
there. That is where Jerry Brown was the Sunday school teacher, and 
that is how I came to meet her.

[[Page S179]]

  One of the big realizations, because of this community church thing 
and the changing of the pastors every 2 years, is that I thought every 
2 years the Lord's Prayer changed. She helped me to understand that 
dilemma.
  That is where I got to meet Mrs. Brown. She was a Sunday school 
teacher, and I wound up in her Sunday school class. She taught the 
kindergarten class. When we first started, she actually moved up a 
couple of times with me as the classes got combined and as I got older.
  At that very first one, for Bible school, we held it outdoors 
underneath the pine tree--a huge pine tree. I can still remember 
sitting there, enthralled with her descriptions as I held my New 
Testament. Of course, since I was in kindergarten, I couldn't read, but 
she filled in for that and gave me a great background.
  Later, of course, I ran into a book by Robert Fulghum titled, ``All I 
Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten.'' For me, it was 
kindergarten Sunday school. And my teacher, of course--well, she was my 
first Sunday school teacher and my last living Sunday school teacher.
  Some of the things she taught were to share everything; play fair; 
don't hit people; put things back where you found them; clean up your 
own mess; don't take things that aren't yours; say you are sorry if you 
hurt someone; and be aware of wonder. And ``wonder'' is, if you put 
some seeds--and we did this--in a paper cup with dirt and you water it, 
the plant goes up, and the roots go down. Some people would say nobody 
knows why or how, but Mrs. Brown said: That is not true. God has a 
plan. He knows you. He watches out for you. If you see things going 
wrong, check your direction because it might not be where God wants 
you.
  All of this was a good basis for my life. I have always appreciated 
seeing her through the years, particularly when we have visited that 
church again, which is still a community church, although most of the 
towns have split those up into more than one denomination. But I have 
to say that if the criteria is 3,000 people, by the time the town gets 
to a first-class city size, the one church is so well established that 
it is hard for another one to actually get established in a small 
community like that.
  As long as there are wonderful people like Mrs. Brown teaching 
kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and other kids in small 
communities, this country will be a great place.
  I thank her for all the background she gave me and ask for your 
prayers for her family.
  I thank the Senator.
  Mr. BARRASSO. I thank Senator Enzi.
  She was born May 29, 1930, in Casper, WY--the youngest of eight 
children--to the Dodge family. As Senator Enzi talked about building 
the dam in the Thermopolis area, the family lived in Alcova during the 
construction of the dams and the reservoirs in that area before moving 
to Thermopolis, where the family owned and ran the Wigwam Bakery. They 
had the best bread, doughnuts, and anything you could ever imagine.
  She worked a number of places--certainly at the family bakery, but 
also she worked at the First National Bank. Jerry always volunteered to 
take the mail from the bank to the post office because she had caught 
the eye of a young postal employee, Bob Brown. The two were married on 
September 18 in 1949, and as the Senator knows, they recently 
celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
  As newlyweds, Bob was sent to Korea. He had been in World War II. He 
was sent with a whole group from the basin area of Wyoming, as part of 
the National Guard, to Korea. They first went to Fort Lewis, WA, and 
Jerry followed. To pay her way, she had to pick filbert nuts. She was 
telling me at Christmas the size of the bag that they had to fill with 
these filbert nuts before they got any pay. Well, it was a full day's 
work, so the lessons she taught Mr. Enzi about hard work, she knew it 
personally.
  She was a hard worker. She worked at the bakery. She also worked for 
Dr. Nels Vicklund, Vicklund Pharmacy, in Hot Springs County. She worked 
for the Hot Springs County treasurer's office. Her really great joy was 
when she owned and operated her own store in downtown Thermopolis 
called Country Charm.
  As the Senator knows, she was dedicated to her children, Bobbi and 
Mike, and adored her granddaughter, Hadley. She taught them to work 
hard, to be kind, and to always do their best.
  She was a talented crafter, she enjoyed playing bridge, and she was a 
collector. She collected Santa Clauses, she collected chickens and 
pictures of chickens, and she collected rocks from around the world. No 
matter where I went, I needed to bring back a rock for Jerry. She also, 
as the gentleman knows, collected friends and memories. She had an 
encyclopedic memory of Wyoming names, Wyoming places, and Wyoming 
relationships--who was married to whom and whose cousin was who. She 
rarely left anywhere without a hug and really loved being everyone's 
favorite Aunt Jerry. She was also an avid reader--and an NBA fan, of 
all things. She loved God, loved America, and loved our flag. She was a 
longtime member of the Community Federated Church, the Order of the 
Eastern Star, and, as we were talking about in the cloakroom, she was 
State president of PEO.
  Jerry Brown dedicated her life to her family, to her faith, and to 
her friends. She was committed to her church and her community. She had 
a well-deserved reputation for being a joiner, a goer, and a doer.
  We will celebrate her life on Saturday, January 18, in Thermopolis at 
the Community Federated Church, and we miss her dearly. May she rest in 
peace.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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