Mary Jane Brower

Mary Jane (Hugh) Brower, age 92, of Oxford, Ohio, passed away on July 14, 2026, at The Knolls of Oxford.

She was born April 9, 1934, in Akron, Ohio, to A.W. and Lillian (Mills) Hugh, joining four much older siblings. Her childhood was spent in North Dakota, first at Pleasant Lake and then Minot. The nickname “Cookie” was bestowed by her father after a popular song that would make her dance. Following her parents’ divorce, Mary Jane and her mother moved to Fairborn, Ohio, where she graduated from Baker High School in 1952. A chance encounter that summer with a student at Ohio State convinced her to scratch her plans to attend Bowling Green University and instead enroll at Miami University. It was a choice she never regretted. In the fall of her senior year at Miami, Mary Jane was set up on a blind date with Fred Brower, a graduate student living at the Beta Theta Pi house following a five-stint in the Marine Corps. Cookie and Fred enjoyed a whirlwind courtship which culminated in their wedding on June 12, 1956 – one day after her graduation from Miami with a B.S. in Dietetics. Choosing to settle in Oxford, the young couple became deeply involved in the community where they raised their three daughters.

Mary Jane was a member of the American Dietetic Association and a member of Chapter CB, PEO Sisterhood. She volunteered extensively over the years with the Oxford United Presbyterian Church, Camp Fire Girls, McGuffey Laboratory School PTA, and on behalf of her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi. She was a docent at the Miami University Art Museum and served on the boards of McCullough-Hyde Hospital Auxiliary, the Red Cross of Butler County, and the Oxford Country Club.

As her daughters entered high school and college, Mary Jane returned to Miami and earned a master’s degree in nutrition in 1978. She taught for eight years in the Home Economics department at the University and then served as the first Food Management Consultant for the newly built Miami Inn.

Throughout adulthood she loved painting, particularly using watercolors, and was an avid gardener, seeking to emulate the kind of wild woodland created by her former professor, Dr. Robert Hefner. Over the 50 years she and Fred resided on Fairfield Road in Oxford, their property was planted with numerous flowers and trees which gave her pleasure year-around, especially the profusion of her beloved Bluebells in the spring. She and Fred enjoyed traveling, attending Miami football and basketball games, and playing golf.

She is survived by her daughters Elizabeth O’Beirne of Virginia, Becky Osborne (Steve) of Loveland, and Susie Sadler (Steve) of Oxford; six grandchildren James O’Beirne (Justine), Michael O’Beirne (Betty), William O’Beirne (Dale), Samantha Kelly (Matt), Jackie Osborne and Bryce Sadler; and one great-grandson, Henry O’Beirne; brother-in-law Bill Brower (Rosetta) of Eaton; sister-in-law Phyllis Brower of Cincinnati, and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Frederick F. Brower, brothers Bob, Tom, and Bill Hugh, sister Betty Hefter, and brother-in-law Dan Brower.

A Celebration of Life service is planned for 2:00pm on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026 at the Oxford Community Arts Center followed immediately by a reception. In keeping with Mary Jane’s love of flowers, suggested attire is spring and summer colors. In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations to McCullough-Hyde Hospital or the Mary Jane Brower Choir Intern Fund at the Oxford Presbyterian Church. Arrangements are being handled by Brown Dawson Flick.