Heather Brown was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to a journalist father and grandfather, both named Kingsley Brown, who helped shape the woman that she would become. Her mother, Evelyn Brown, was born to an accomplished medical family with a father and two brothers who were surgeons. Heather’s grandmother was a nurse. As a result, she became interested in writing, news and medicine in choosing careers.
After receiving an undergraduate degree in psychology and sociology due to an interest in the human mind and society, Heather had difficulty deciding which professional path to follow. Heather was also interested in languages, having studied French in school and university, Russian as part of an after school programme in high school, and German during a seven week trip visiting her sister, Pat, in Vienna. Traveling to first Holland, then later England, Scotland, Austria, Germany and Ireland, travel widened her knowledge of life and included visiting museums, art galleries, ballet performances, historical sites and more. These experiences helped to open up Heather’s world as she is an introvert, therefore tending to be more quiet, reserved and sensitive.
Heather’s first real job was as a feature writer for the small town newspaper in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, writing a series of articles for their 125th anniversary issue. She learned that in interviewing the owners of local businesses or interesting local characters that she was in charge of the communication through questions and engagement. This realisation helped Heather to become more confident and inquisitive. Unfortunately, the job was short term and paid through a grant, and Heather needed to find other work.
After moving to Halifax a year later, Heather obtained clerical and secretarial work until discovering a career in health information management. This was exciting to her as obtaining this qualification would draw on her interest in medicine. Courses included pathophysiology, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, pharmacology, coding and data entry of health and demographic data, health information management and more. As the field rapidly evolved, requiring continuing education through the provincial and national organisations, she was constantly stimulated. She started working in this field in Halifax before moving to Victoria, British Columbia on Canada’s west coast. It was there that she continued her work before retiring.
Over the years, Heather did hundreds of hours volunteering while still working. She volunteered at different times in a general hospital emergency room, provided company to veterans in a hospital care unit, and caring for special needs children in a respite care home.
After more than a year of retirement, Heather decided to return to Halifax on the east coast of Canada to spend more time with family. Up until then, she had only managed a trip once per year to visit them. Her brother, Bob, had already retired from work as a private corporate pilot to Halifax with his wife, Deb. Her sister, Nancy, was retired from nursing and living nearby with her husband, Ron. Her brother, Kingsley, lived two streets away with his wife, Cathy. Pat was similarly retired and living in close proximity. All of their children were grown and married, and mostly living away.
And then the pandemic hit! Life changed drastically. As Heather lived on her own, she was isolated due to provincial regulations. While grateful for the diligence of the government for keeping the population safer than most places and putting programmes into place to keep them healthy, it was a difficult adjustment. During these years, her youngest brother, Quentin, died from pancreatic cancer. And her father died at the age of 89. Restrictions meant that she was not able to see her brother and visits with her father were limited. However, with family support and the strength of the true Nova Scotian character, everyone survived even stronger and more connected than ever before. During the pandemic, Heather volunteered again for hundreds of hours preparing Covid tests kits or handing out free tests kits at a downtown library. It made her feel as if she was making a difference and helping people.
Heather now keeps active walking extensively and helping family, including her 94 year old mother, who lives with Pat. She was given a fitness watch as a birthday gift a few years ago and is usually successful in reaching or exceeding 10,000 steps per day. She has also taken a couple of international trips, including one to London and Vienna, and another - her fifth - to beautiful Scotland. During this last trip, she was able to (re)connect with her Scottish relatives and hopes to visit there again.
A guide track for ‘Heather Brown’ is available below for listening: -
You can download a PDF of the sheet music here
- or braille format here.
The track is additionally available within the following collections and sets: -
Associated Collections: -
4/4
Canadian
Not Yet Recorded
Reel
The Three Six Five Collection
