Eleanor C (Coppola) Brown

Brown, Eleanor C. – loving mother, grandmother, and friend.

Eleanor Coppola Brown of Bloomfield Township, Michigan and Naples, Florida, died peacefully at home on November 2, 2021, at age 83. She will be fondly remembered as a kind, thoughtful, strong, independent woman, who cared deeply for her family and friends.

Eleanor Ann Coppola was born to Michelangelo (Angelo) Ralph Coppola and Margaret (Peg) Ronan Coppola in Boston, Massachusetts on August 6, 1938. She grew up in Jamaica Plain and graduated from Newton College of the Sacred Heart with a degree in French. Eleanor married George V. Brown III, and after teaching for a short time, she became a full-time mother and the family moved from Needham, Massachusetts to Birmingham, Michigan in 1969 where she raised her four children. Once her kids were older, she earned a degree in Business Administration from Wayne State University and became a Certified Public Accountant. Eleanor further completed a master’s degree in taxation from Walsh College. She had clients in the Detroit Metro area and in the Naples area and enjoyed her work and her clients. She did tax planning and compliance work for many years and stopped doing so only very recently.

Eleanor was intelligent, independent, hardworking, and very responsible. She was also compassionate, had a great sense of humor, and loved to laugh. But most of all, she loved her children, grandchildren, and extended family and enjoyed spending time with them all. Eleanor had a special bond with her siblings and enjoyed many trips to Maine to see Mary Devine (the late Walter), Joe (Susan) Coppola, and John (Martha) Coppola and all her nieces and nephews. She always found joy in planning trips with her sister Mary, together having visited China, France, United Kingdom, and cruising the Mediterranean. She had a special love of Italy and would stay in an apartment for weeks to enjoy classes in Italian language and cooking with friends and family visiting her.

 Eleanor is survived by her children, George Brown IV (Loren), Elizabeth Gates (Bill Walker), Andrew Brown, and Peter Brown (Jaye Chen) who all valued her advice, caring, and support. She was so grateful to know her children loved and respected her, and she often expressed how fortunate she was to be able to see them as often as she could and in recent years, whenever she asked. She has left a legacy of a binder with all her Christmas letters that document her children’s lives with humor and grace that will be cherished.

She is also survived by her truly loving grandchildren who brought her such joy; Ryan Gates, Amanda Gates (Logan Sabo), Emmett Brown, Ray Brown, Alyssa Vincent, Lucius Brown, Jasper Brown, Imogen Brown, and Graham Brown. Eleanor was “Nana” who was always interested in their lives and so proud of the young adults they have become. She celebrated every accomplishment they had and appreciated all their communications about their lives.

 Eleanor is preceded in death by her parents, her brother in law Walter Devine, and by her former husband, George Brown.

 A funeral Mass will be held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts on Saturday, December 4, 2021, at 10 am. Further details will be available from the Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home, West Roxbury, MA.

 In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial tributes to Loyola High School, 15325 Pinehurst, Detroit, MI 48238 (http://loyolahsdetroit.org/donate-now/)

or The Italian Home for Children, 1125 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 (https://www.italianhome.org/about-italian-home/) or to a charity of your choice. 

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