Yleen Marie Phelan Brown

Yleen Marie Phelan Brown, 92, formerly of Fort Smith, passed away Saturday, January 2, 2016 in Little Rock, Arkansas. A service will be held at St. James United Methodist Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 16, Rev. Randy Ludwig officiating and burial will be in Parkview Cemetery, Hastings, Nebraska. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the Yleen Brown Music Fund at First United Methodist Church, 200 No 15th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas. Private condolences may be sent to the family at www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/chenal. Yleen was born November 24, 1923 in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Leroy and Nellie (Neely) Phelan. She attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She married Byron Lester Brown, M.D., of Hastings, Nebraska, on March 3, 1945. His Navy medical duty took them to Houston, Texas, and Oakland, California. In 1949 they settled in Superior, Nebraska. In the 1950s, Byron's orthopedic training took them to Memphis, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1962 they moved to Fort Smith, Arkansas. In each of the family moves, Yleen found a church home and shared her musical, leadership, and organizational talents in adult and children's choirs, vacation Bible schools, handbells, and archives. Yleen was an active member of First United Methodist Church in Fort Smith, where she sang and soloed in the Chancel Choir for over 40 years. She was also active in the Archives Committee, United Methodist Women, D.A.R., P.E.O., and St. Edward Mercy Hospital's Auxiliary. In 2005 Byron and Yleen retired to live at the Good Shepherd Retirement Center, Little Rock, Arkansas. There until her death she coordinated the weekly Sunday School and served as floor secretary. Yleen was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, and one brother, James Josiah Phelan. She is survived by her four children, sons Thomas (Fran) of Houston, Texas, and Steve (Pamela) of Little Rock, Arkansas; and daughters Margaret (Wiley) Coley of Brentwood, Tennessee, and Susan (Mike) Molitor of College Station, Texas. She delighted in her nine grandchildren: Robert and Elizabeth Brown, Meredith Brown Perkins, Steven and Andrew Coley, Robin and Jon Brown, and Sarah and Austin Molitor. The family would like to thank Carissa Frost, Yleen's many friends at Good Shepherd's Cove, and the caregivers of Briarwood Nursing and Rehabilitation.