Point Reyes Light - November 13, 2003
Commonweal co-founder & Full Circle founder dies
By Larken Bradley
Carolyn L. Brown, Ph.D., a nationally recognized child advocate and co-founder of the Commonweal research institute – where she served as director of the Children and Young Adults Program – died at her Bolinas home on Tuesday, Nov. 4, from colon cancer. She was 65.
Founded Full Circle
Dr. Brown founded Full Circle Treatment Center in Dogtown, which serves at-risk boys struggling with emotional, neurological, and learning issues. As a clinician she held, "a deep belief in the dignity of every human being," observed Commonweal co-founder Michael Lerner.
"My mother never believed that there was a set standard for someone’s care," noted her daughter, Meloni Courtway. "She was the person people called when they had exhausted all possibilities of help for their children."
She also established Bolinas’ Roundhouse, a residential diagnostic and art program for young adults.
Dr. Brown served as chair of the California Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Advisory Council, a governor’s appointment under Jerry Brown. She was honored with numerous awards including the Albert Elias Award given by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency; and the Jenifer Altman Foundation Award for her service to families and children.
When a problem presented itself, whether personal or professional, she was never one to accept "no" for an answer. To the end she believed she would overcome cancer and live to the age of 103, her daughter revealed.
Born in Spokane, Washington, on Nov. 17, 1937, Carolyn Cotterel was the only child of a mother who had once performed as a circus escape artist, and whose maternal grandmother had been a crystal-ball reader with the "Greatest Show on Earth."
Grandmother ran orphanage
While her parents worked for the Kraft cheese company, young Carolyn spent most of her time with her paternal grandmother who ran a girls’ orphanage. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Whitworth College in Spokane, spending her junior year studying in India.
After graduation she married her first husband, Charlie Brown, Sr., a Presbyterian minister. Her second marriage to Howard Hammerman also ended in divorce.
While living in Berkeley she earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Wright Institute. Her interest in psychology was inspired by one of her son’s learning disabilities and her desire to better understand his needs.
In Berkeley she founded The Growing Mind, a pioneering school for learning-disabled children. The school evolved into Full Circle and moved to Dogtown.
Described by her daughter as "a big Danish blonde," Dr. Brown was a commanding presence wherever she went.
"She had this incredible grace that people were drawn to," said friend, Katie O’Callaghan of Bolinas. She had "an ability to listen with her heart to people whether they were two years old or 80."
A kind of saint
"Carolyn was a kind of saint, and like all saints she was very human," remarked Michael Lerner. "What was saint-like about her was her incredible compassion, wisdom and will."
She is survived by her sons, Charlie Brown; Chris Brown; son and daughter-in-law, Cameron and Anita Brown; all of Bolinas; daughter and son-in-law, Meloni and Ed Courtway of Port Huron, Michigan; daughter, Stephanie Hammerman; grandchildren, Houston Brown; and Casey Brown, all of Bolinas; Lily Brown of Fairfax; Quinn Courtway of Port Huron, Michigan; and her cousin, Nancy Gump of Fairfax.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Grace Cathedral, 1100 California St., San Francisco.
The family has suggested that any memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Petaluma, 416 Payran St., Petaluma 94952; or to the Children and Young Adults Program at Commonweal, PO Box 316, Bolinas 94924.