Mildred Geneva Harper Brownell

Funeral services for Mildred Geneva Harper Brownell will be held at 2:00 P.M., Monday, January 9, 2023, in the chapel of Mulhearn Funeral Home in West Monroe, LA with Rev. Everett Geiss and her grandson, Michael Wilkes officiating.  Interment will follow in the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery.

Mildred was born August 19^th, 1934, and passed away at the age of 88, on January 6, 2023.

Mildred is preceded in death by her parents, Franklin Pierce Harper and Georgia Mae Baugh Harper; mother and father-in-law, Fife and Mamie Brownell; brothers, Donald and Charles Harper; and  sister, Bama Crowell; brothers-in-law, Waldon Crowell, Robert (Bob) Kelly, Linton Hynum and Maxwell Brown and son-in-law, Marshall Sanders.

She is survived by her devoted husband, Malcolm Brownell, Sr; daughters, Saundra Nugent, Sylvia Ragland (Fred), Vicky Sanders, Annette Wilkes (Mike), and Patti Nelson (Todd); son, Malcolm Brownell, Jr.(Lauren); twelve grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren. Other survivors include sisters, Mae Kelly, Margie Brown, and Barbara Hynum; brothers, Dwayne Harper and wife Ellen, and Dean Harper; sister-in-law, JoAnn Harper.

Mildred loved cooking for her very large family, gardening, reading, fishing, ancestry research, needlework and watching LSU football and tailgating in the motorhome before game time. She especially enjoyed traveling with family and friends. She often said the best part of her married life was traveling with Malcolm in their motorhome after his retirement.   The epitome of a southern belle, Mildred never left her home without her hair, face, and nails done.  In the end, she refused to go to the doctor because she “wouldn’t look respectable,” and that is where Malcolm drew the line.  Only hair and make-up didn’t make it in his wheelhouse of serving her every need.  She was a member of Mount Vernon Baptist Church and the Fort Miro Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Pallbearers will be grandsons Michael Holland, Josh Tarver, Michael Wilkes, Cody Wilkes, Casey Brownell, and Wyatt Brownell.

Visitation will be held from 1:00 P.M. until Service Time on Monday at Mulhearn Funeral Home West Monroe, LA.

Memorials may be made to the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Cemetery Fund.