Nancy Williams Brown

It’s not been a picture perfect life, but it’s been a good one. When I
graduated from Tam I never would have believed how it would all unfold, but
here we are 40 years later and I feel good about myself and have good stories
to tell!

As for education, I finally graduated from UC Berkeley eight years after
starting college. Eventually I went back and completed a M.A. in Design
(photography) in 1975. And, when I was forty I got a teaching credential.
That eventually landed me a job back in Mill Valley where I taught grades 3
through 5 for several years, first at Strawberry School and then at Edna
Maguire ( which I had attended for 8th grade).

As for marriage, I hope I don’t hold the class of ‘61 record, but I am on
my third marriage (and last) to Roger Brown (Tam class of ‘54). We’ve been
married for 11 years and are perfectly matched. Why didn’t I meet him in the
first place? My first marriage really became a victim of the 60’s unrest, I
think. From that marriage, though, I gained many wonderful experiences,
living and working seasonally in National Parks ( Muir Woods, Death Valley,
Grand Canyon, Olympic, Glacier Bay). In the 70’s I was married, lived in
Berkeley, and had a wonderful daughter, Alison, who is my pride and joy.
Again, I traveled a lot and had the opportunity to live abroad in England,
Scotland, France for short periods. Unfortunately, the marriage ended. I
was a single mom for a few years, bought a house in Mill Valley to return to
my roots, and enrolled my daughter in Mill Valley Middle School. She
eventually graduated from Tam High as salutatorian in ‘94. It was a real
deja vu moment watching that graduation in Mead Theater so many years later!
I was proud. She went on to Princeton and is now a graduate student in
mechanical engineering at Stanford. Every cloud has a silver lining, and she
is mine! Last summer she was married at the Lawrence Hall of Science in
Berkeley with a perfect view of Mt. Tam!

When Alison was in Middle School, I met Roger through some friends and the
rest is history, as they say. Now we are both retired and enjoying the good
life. We live on his small ranch (seven acres) in the Livermore countryside
tucked away in a rural valley south of Altamont Pass. Three years ago when I
was looking for a packable donkey, a friend gave me an old endurance horse
who is totally “bombproof” so I have learned to ride. Now we have four
horses and ride a couple of times a week in the wonderful regional parks out
here. We also hike and backpack and completed the entire John Muir Trail two
years ago which we did over three summers. We were determined to do that
while we still could! I’ll never forget the scenery; we had to sweat for
that experience, but it was well worth it. I think I have learned to ride a
horse so I can still go there when I am old.

Roger and I share our Mill Valley history. We both lived in West Blithedale
Canyon, but never knew each other then. Who knows? What goes around, comes
around. We may see you all at The Redwoods someday, hopefully a long time
from now. Until then, keep walking and hiking! I look forward to seeing you
all at the reunion!