Mostly Clear, 61° F
(Dec. 13, 2009)
Kathryn “Katie” Irene Meyers Brown, 96, died Dec. 13, 2009, at the West Park Hospital Long Term Care Center in Cody.
She was born on the family homestead in Garland on Feb. 4, 1913, to Hank and Laura Meyers, the eldest of eight children. She attended shool in Garland through the eighth grade and graduated from Powell High School in 1931.
After graduation, Katie worked as a nanny for 8 years and then purchased a restaurant, The Chuckwagon Café, in Powell.
She married Claud Brown in 1940. Claud owned his own airplane, and Katie was proud of the fact that she obtained a student pilot certificate in 1944.
Katie and Claud moved to Cody and started the 30-acre Buffalo Bill Fur Farm, where they raised fox, mink, chinchilla and, at one time, 20,000 turkeys. Their farm was the home of the first platinum fox.
During the Vietnam War, Katie organized a shipment of 3,210 pounds of cookies, baked in local homes, to be sent to the U.S.S. Park County, a ship of 115 men stationed in Vietnam. She served as the self-appointed ship mother for 5 1/2 years, sending cards, presents and even Christmas trees one year.
Katie was instrumental in establishing a tax-supported hospital in Cody, and she was chairman of the Cody Stampede parade for 12 years.
At age 55, she started and danced with the Buffalo Bill Dollies, a group of can-can girls who entertained tourists on the porch of the Irma Hotel during the summer months. She served as president of many local clubs including the Rotana Club, American Legion Auxiliary and the VFW.
Katie was preceded in death by her husband, Claud; her parents; two sisters, Mary Burns and Helen Meyers, who died as a baby; and two brothers, Francis “Bud” Meyers and Jack Meyers.
She is survived by three sisters, Ethel Heimer (Lloyd) of Garland and Loretta Johannes and Clara Barber, both of Billings; and serveral nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 21 at Ballard Funeral Home in Cody. Burial will follow in Crown Hill Cemetery in Powell.
