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Avid Hiker and Chemist

Marilyn Losli Brownawell ’55 Losli Brownawell ’55

November 2, 2023, in Bend, Oregon.

Marilyn earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Reed and wrote her thesis on the reaction of carbon monoxide gas with sodium phenyl; Prof. Arthur F. Scott [chemistry 1923–26 and 1937–79] was her advisor. In German class with Prof. Kaspar Locher [1950-88], she met her future husband, Darrell Brownawell ’54. Marilyn later earned her master’s and became a research chemist and a teacher, working for a time at Exxon USA, where Darrell also worked.

After graduating from Reed, Darrell was stationed in Germany with the army and Marilyn joined him. “We took one of Professor Arragon’s textbooks with us and used it as we traveled for a month in Greece, seeing all the sites he’d talked about in class,” wrote Darrell in The Gray Alumni Challenge.

Marilyn was an avid hiker and enjoyed exploring with Darrell the Olympic National Forest and Mount Rainier. She traveled extensively in Europe, visited Africa, and lived for two years near Oxford, England. When Marilyn retired, she and Darrell moved to Black Butte Ranch where they had vacationed often. She started teaching Sunday school at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Sisters.

Marilyn is survived by Darrell and her sons, David and Mark.

Appeared in Reed magazine: Summer 2024

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