The Memorial Service for Dr. Pauline Brown will be on June 10, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Giles Presbyterian Church in Ottawa.
If you plan to attend the service at St. Gilles in Ottawa in-person, please RSVP before June 3 to office [at] stgilesottawa [dot] org (to allow the family sufficient time to prepare catering).
Otherwise, you can attend the service by Zoom by registering here:
Celebrating a Remarkable Life
After a long and rich life of 97 years, a faithful ministry as a nurse in rural India and a brief illness, Dr. Pauline Brown died in her adopted and beloved hometown of Jobat, India, on the morning of Saturday, April 1.
Pauline was a devoted public health and missionary nurse. As a young girl, Pauline dreamed of working in India. While serving as a nurse in the navy in the 1950s, Pauline met a former missionary to India, which intensified her sense of a calling to work overseas.
The Women’s Missionary Society (WMS) appointed the 25-year-old Pauline for a four-month posting. A few months became a 55-year-long ministry working with the Bhil people under the Church of North India. Her focus was always on health care and education in the region of Bhopal. In 2001, Pauline received the Order of Canada for her dedicated service, and the church recognized her ministry with the degree of Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa).
Pauline lived by grace. She understood that God’s graciousness filled her every waking moment. She was a natural preacher who lived out her faith in word and deed, never missing an opportunity to proclaim God’s grace. Her capacity to build community, to lead in times of trouble, and to find the good news in every moment meant that she transformed people and situations. Her wit, humour and honesty ensured that she was a trustworthy and entertaining companion on every journey. Pauline cannot be described with mere words—she was a force of nature—always a blessing, always encouraging, always participating in the transformative activity of God. To receive her blessing was to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you were loved.
Pauline retired in Jobat, India, where she was hailed as a beloved and respected elder and wise community leader. Pauline welcomed visitors warmly from around the world into her charming, laughter-filled, book-lined home.
Pauline was buried on Saturday evening near her beloved community in the cemetery outside the front door of her home.
The large banner that welcomed visitors to her home read:
She is radiant like the rising sun;
Her beauty lights up the world.
She wears sun and moon as her jewels.
Her eyes are like fish and lotus and darting deer.
Her face is fragrant like champaka.
her hair like incense
She has capacities, she is active, she is aware, she is fearless, and she is free.
The following message of condolence from the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI) was published on April 1.
We at CMAI express our heartfelt condolences on the passing of Dr. Pauline Brown. She served CMAI as the Secretary of Nurses League and received the Dr. D W Mategaonkar Award in 2019 in recognition of her outstanding service to the Healing Ministry.
Dr. Pauline, born in Canada, served the Royal Canadian Navy from 1943 to 1946, followed by working at Ottawa Civic Hospital and graduating as a registered nurse and earning a diploma in Public Health and B.Sc. in Nursing and a Master of Health Care Practice from McMaster University, Ontario, Canada.
Dr. Pauline, passionate about her work as a missionary nurse, arrived in India in the year of 1951 at Jobat Mission Hospital in Alirajpur District, Madhya Pradesh, until she retired in 2006. She served as the Director of Jobat Christian Hospital and as a teacher at the Graduate School for Nurses in Indore. She helped to set up Mobile Medical Units in the Vindhy-Satpura region. She was also the board member of CMC Ludhiana and Vellore and a life member of Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) and SMAI.
We the CMAI family and the Nursing fraternity express heartfelt condolences and prayers to the family and loved ones. We praise God for her service and contribution to the work and serving spirit of the Mission Hospitals.