Betty Kuhs Brown of Waukesha, WI, died peacefully at Avalon Square on Jan. 1, 2026, at age 101. While she never claimed to know any secret to longevity, she stayed active, ate all the grapefruit and ice cream she wanted, and lived by the motto, “Have fun!” She was an inveterate tea drinker (always from a cup and saucer), loved butterflies, and somehow managed to wear her favorite shirt for nearly 70 years.

For decades, she managed the veterinary practice of her late husband, Dr. J.W. Brown, in Collinsville, Ill. Before their move to Collinsville in the late 1950s, the couple ran a practice and sheep farm outside DeSoto, Mo.

Betty R. Kuhs, daughter of Oscar L. Kuhs and Emma H. Wenzel Kuhs, was reared in south St. Louis. She and her older sister, Dorothy, spent summers playing with their many cousins in a family clubhouse on the Big River outside St. Louis. At her father’s urging, she earned her bachelor’s degree at the Philadelphia Textile Institute, where she was one of the few women attending. She recalled how her classes nearly emptied overnight as men enlisted to serve in World War II. She had the chance to assist on a military-backed research project to develop mold-proof dyes for a new material called nylon.

After college, she returned to a farm that her father and stepmother had bought in Jefferson County, Mo. In 1947, she was teaching nearby in a one-room schoolhouse when her horse suffered an abrasion, so she mailed a post card to the new veterinarian in the area. He came to treat the horse, stayed for dinner, and married her three months later.

She was devoted to family. For years, she drove more than 100 miles a day to take her daughters to and from school and said she loved having a captive audience. In addition to parenting and grandparenting, she took care of her mother-in-law, father, stepmother, and sister in their later years.

Betty Brown is survived by her daughters, Susan K. Brown (Frank Bean) of Irvine, CA, and Heather H. Hein (Jeffrey) of Waukesha, WI; four granddaughters, Helene E. (Drew Jackson) and Eva M. Wierzbicki and Katherine S. and Ellena H. Hein; and a great-grandson, Charles W. Jackson.

There will be no services. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to an animal- or nature-related charity of the donor’s choice.