The Queen’s community is mourning the loss of Judith Brown, BA’69, educator, advocate, and trustee, who passed away on Oct. 11 at the age of 81.
Born in Bermuda, where she began her Queen’s degree by taking summer and correspondence courses, Judi first came to Kingston to fulfill her on-campus degree requirement.
In the decades since she graduated, she became a prominent member of the community, a mentor to generations of Queen’s students, and a leader on campus.
A passionate supporter of public education, she would settle in Kingston with her family and spent many years teaching with the Limestone District School Board. Judi’s career as a teacher spanned more than four decades and also took her to Bermuda, Egypt, and China. She taught in the prison system, special education, and taught early childhood education as an adjunct professor at Queen’s.
Her commitment to education continued after her retirement from teaching. Since 2018, she served as a trustee for the Limestone District School Board and was a proponent of teaching Black history.
Judi was a tireless advocate for African and Caribbean communities on campus and in the greater Kingston community. A supporter of the Queen’s Black Academic Society, the African and Caribbean Students’ Association, and a member of the Queen’s Black Alumni Chapter, she also founded the Afro-Caribe Community Foundation of Kingston and was a co-organizer of the Black History Month Opening Ceremony.
She served on Queen’s University Council from 2019 to 2023 and was the recipient of the Jim Bennett Award in 2019 for her efforts to advance ethnic and racial inclusion at the university. The award honours Kingstonians for outstanding achievements in their careers, sport, the arts, or volunteer endeavours, which contribute to the betterment of Queen’s or Kingston.
Gifts in honour of Judith will be allocated to the Robert Sutherland Memorial Admission Award. This award was established by the Afro-Caribe Community Foundation of Kingston and is awarded to students entering first year of any undergraduate degree program on the basis of need, academic achievement, and contribution to the African or Caribbean communities in Canada.
