Nellie “Thelma” Brown

Nellie Lou Thelma Brown died Wednesday February 21, 2024.

She was born to Willie and Magnolia Forbes Osler on June 27, 1928, in Bolivar, Tenn. She met and married Albert Brown Jr. in 1949 soon after moving to Champaign. Together they raised eight children.

Thelma was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Washington Osler, Jasper Osler, William Osler, Muzelle Osler and Ronald Osler; sister Betty Smith; and daughter Billie Williams.

She is survived by her brother Curtis Osler; sisters Dorothy McMullen and Nola Bell; sons Bobby Brown, Bruce Brown and Scotland Brown; daughters Janice Hayes, Joyce Brown, Debra Brown and Judy Nesbitt; 11 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

Services will take place Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Heath & Vaughn Funeral Home, 201 N. Elm St., Champaign, with visitation at 11 a.m., services at noon and burial at 1:30 p.m. in Lincoln Memorial Gardens, Urbana.