Marianne Sugden Brewer

Marianne Sugden Brewer, 84, died this past Sunday, November 23 at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was born in 1930 in Kingston, Pennsylvania, grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where her father, the Reverend W. Herbert Sugden, was pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Her mother was Laura Schobert Sugden. Both parents predeceased her. Marianne attended local schools, graduating from Elmer L. Meyers High School, where she edited the school newspaper. A scholarship student at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York, she graduated with honors in 1952. Five days after graduation she married newly-commissioned 2d Lieutenant John F. Brewer, Jr. who had graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point the week before. The couple spent 30 years as a military family, serving tours in Japan, Germany and Alaska, as well as stateside tours in California, Missouri, New York, Texas and Virginia. During the time that her husband served a tour in Korea and two tours in Vietnam, Marianne raised their five children alone. Colonel Brewer retired from active duty in 1982. After settling in Texas, Marianne returned to the classroom, enrolling in Southern Methodist University's Master of Liberal Arts program where she earned the MLA degree in 1985. A longtime volunteer at the Dallas Museum of Art, she was a member of the Dallas-Fort Worth Vassar Club and actively involved in the Southwest Dallas County Branch of the American Association of University Women(AAUW). Marianne and John moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2007 to be near two of their sons and two grandchildren and to reside at Butterfield Trail Village, a retirement community. She is survived by her husband John, son, John III and his wife, Linda, of Fairview, Tennessee; son, Robert and wife Jonna Hussey, Fayetteville, Arkansas; son, Mark and wife Rhonda Headley, Middletown, Virginia; daughter, Laura, Atlanta, Georgia; and son, Scott and his wife, Pennie, Fayetteville, Arkansas. And by three grandchildren, Mollie Ruthanne and Ian Daniel Brewer, Fayetteville, Arkansas and Sarah Elaine Brewer, Middletown, Virginia. A brother, Reverend Henry L. Sugden, Lapwai, Idaho and his family also survive. Remains have been cremated and in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, there will be no services. Memorial gifts may be made to a favorite charity. Cremation Arrangements were handled my Nelson-Berna Funeral Home and Crematory of Fayetteville, Ark.