Mary Browning Obituary

Durango resident Mary Hope Wycoff Browning died Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, in Durango. She was 95.

Mrs. Browning was born to Joseph and Catherine Wycoff on Oct. 23, 1915, in Monica, Ill.

She graduated from Passavant Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Ill., as a registered nurse and from Illinois College, also in Jacksonville, with a degree in psychology. During World War II, she attended the University of Minnesota and received a teaching certificate in nursing education. Also during the war years, she worked in hospitals in various positions in Philadelphia, Delaware, Ohio and California.

She was the wife of longtime Durango physician Dr. Joseph Browning. The couple married in 1942 in Cincinnati.

The Brownings moved to Durango in the 1950s. Mrs. Browning worked as a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Durango and as coordinator of the practical nursing school. She started the Head Start program here.

In the late 1970s, she moved to Arizona, where she worked in St. Joseph's Hospital in Nogales and at the University Medical Center in Tucson.

After moving to Sierra Vista, Ariz., she became active in the Huachuca Art Association. Her medium was photography. She also was an active volunteer at the Senior Center.

Her family said Mrs. Browning was well known in Tucson and Sierra Vista for her prowess in local, state, national and international competitions as a senior Olympic swimmer. She also competed in golf and archery, winning a first and second place in archery at the national level.

She moved back to Durango in 2006.

Mrs. Browning is survived by her son, J.D. Browning, of Durango; daughters, Hope Olson of Prescott, Wis., and Jenny Gray of Orlando, Fla.; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

No service is planned, and the family requests no flowers. Memorial contributions may be sent to the charity of one's choice.