Co-founder of Montessori of Macon, former journalist dies at 73

Tethel White Brown, co-founder and educator at Montessori of Macon and the first African American editor of The Macon Telegraph’s Georgia Living section, died Nov. 4. She was 73. 

Brown, originally from Jacksonville, Florida, was a force to be reckoned with and always inspired those around her to do better and be better, her friends and family told The Melody.

“She saw a lot of things in other people that people didn’t see in themselves,” her daughter Vian Brown Morales said. “The most important thing that I learned from her was how powerful my voice was, and how powerful my voice was for others.

The oldest of three, Brown was a nurturing support system for her younger brother Esau and little sister Jacquelyn. She grew up heavily involved in the church community as a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Her cousin, Sandra Sigler, was like a sister to her and they spent many summers together in both Florida and South Carolina. 

Although just a year older, Brown had a serious demeanor and was always smarter, Sigler said. Brown would often keep her and Jacquelyn in check, but regardless, Sigler knew she could always count on her. 

Brown carried this determination and dependability with her to Clark Atlanta University.

Qualma Green remembers living on the same floor as Brown freshman year. Her steadfast and level-headed friend served as the editor of the college newspaper.

After reconnecting years later, Brown would always ask about Green’s grandson with special needs, Green said, because she was just that kind of person — warm and caring. 

Brown’s freshman year roommate, Deirdre Howard, remembers a strong friendship. Brown even spent one Thanksgiving with Howard’s family and when Howard became pregnant at the end of freshman year, Brown became her rock and sewed her new clothing — a testament to her willingness to help others.

Macon journalist

After graduating from Clark, Brown moved to Macon to work for The Telegraph, where she spent nearly 15 years as a journalist. 

Brown walked with purpose and authority in the newsroom, fellow journalist Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb recalled, she was direct, but looked out for others. 

“She would tell you if she thought something was not right, and then help you make it right,” she said. 

She was a “Steel Magnolia,” as long-time friend Carrolle King described Brown. 

King got to know her in the ‘80s when Brown reached out to feature her in an article. She always kept her on her toes, King chuckled, recalling a determined Brown sending a photographer to her home in the middle of renovations, but ensuring King that they’d work around the mess.

One year when King was working in the mayor’s office, Brown met with her and insisted that they do something to honor the 20th anniversary of iconic musician and Macon-native Otis Redding’s death. 

Although it was her idea, Brown told King she’d support her in whatever she came up with, but continued to push her to think big. The two women raised $20,000 in two weeks and founded the Otis Redding Memorial Foundation.

“You were thinking you were the leader of something, but in reality it was her,” King said. 

Kisha Foster Johnson first met Brown when she interviewed Johnson’s father for a story. Brown became both a mentor and an aunt to Johnson, connecting over their passion for journalism and storytelling. Johnson went on to become a broadcast journalist and even as an adult she looked up to Brown as a journalist. 

She always spoke her truth and believed in authenticity, Johnson said, and she expected folks to be the best version of themselves. 

Johnson’s father ended up introducing Brown to his cousin who would later become Brown’s husband. Brown met with her future husband, guitarist Kenneth R. Brown for a story. Kenneth played in a folk musical group and often jammed with the Allman Brothers Band. They had two children together, Burnes and Vian, and raised Kenneth’s son Ronald Brown. Burnes serves in the U.S. Navy and was recently named commanding officer of the USS South Dakota in a ceremony earlier this year at Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia.

Founding Montessori

Brown and her husband became one of the co-founding families of Montessori of Macon in 1990 and three years later Brown became an educator for the school, where she taught young minds until 2016.

“Everybody at that school was giving 100, but Tethel was always giving 140,” former Montessori education director Elizabeth Irwin said. 

Brown’s daughter recalled her mother staying up late in order to plan curriculum for her students. She wanted to be able to provide as much as she could for her students to expand their knowledge.

Brown nourished her students’ wonderment, honored their interests and encouraged their discovery of “treasures” — from bugs in jars to plants and critters, another former Montessori education director Tanya Melville told The Melody. 

She credits Brown with instilling in her two sons a sense of curiosity and a desire to explore nature. 

“Tethel was always wanting to take children beyond the four walls of the classroom,” she said. 

If asked, Brown’s former students could tell you her favorite plant or that her favorite word was “Erudite” — “having or showing great knowledge or learning,” according to the dictionary.  

Coming into the fourth grade at Montessori, Claire McNeely knew Brown had a reputation as a tough teacher, but she soon discovered that she was a walking dictionary, fun to talk with and seemed to know everything. 

Tiny, but powerful, McNeely said Brown always knew what was going on in her classroom and made sure her students felt heard, while also encouraging them to think critically.

“I always felt like we were going through the world, Tethel as our leader and we were these little scientists,” said McNeely.

She was someone in the right place, she reflected, doing what she was made to be doing.

Sarra Sedghi credits her former teacher with being both her first critic and the one who helped foster her love of creative writing. Tethel’s willingness to challenge Sedghi — who is now a writer— led her to love it even more.

Morales remembers her mother as someone who encouraged her to look beyond the surface and take the path less traveled — a lesson that Brown imparted not only on her own children, but the many students she helped shape over the course of her more than two decade long career in education.

After retiring from Montessori and her husband’s passing in 2017, Brown moved to Savannah to be closer to Morales, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.