Lauren Elizabeth

Brown

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IN LOVING MEMORY

Lauren Elizabeth Brown

Oct 25 1994 - Dec 09 2016

Lauren Elizabeth Brown, age 22, died on Friday, December 9, 2016, in Frisco, Texas, following a six and a half year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma.

Born October 25, 1994, in Austin, Texas, to her parents, Kitty and Richard, she lived for three years in Plano, Texas, before moving to San Diego, California, with her brother, Evan, and her mom. She attended elementary school in Rancho Penasquitos and Poway where, cheering for Poway Pop Warner, she discovered her love of cheerleading. When her mother and step-father, Mike, told her they were moving back to Texas, her big brown eyes welled up with tears and she asked with a trembling voice, “Do they have cheerleading in Texas?” Did they ever! Lauren cheered competitively for Ultimate Texas Cheer, later called Ultimate Texas Allstars, and for Pro Sprit. She also cheered on her middle school, freshman, and varsity cheer squads. She won every major national championship—CGA, America’s Best, ACA, and NCA—and was an NCA All American cheerleader.

In California, Lauren attended Sundance Elementary in Rancho Penasquitos and Garden Road Elementary in Poway. In Frisco, she attended Curtsinger Elementary and Wester Middle School, and graduated with honors from Centennial High School. She was active in theatre and broadcast; was a member of the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP), National Junior Honor Society, International Thespian Society; and was an NSPA Broadcast Pacemaker Award Finalist.

In June 2010, Lauren was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in her lower right pelvis. Her cheerleading career ended immediately and she missed the better part of her junior year in high school due to treatment. Her cancer returned her senior year, but she still completed high school on time, held down a part-time job, and took twelve credit hours at the junior college, all while undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.

Lauren entered Texas A&M University in the fall of 2012. Even before she had heard of Texas A&M, she was destined to be an Aggie. Through middle school and high school, when she described the kind of university she wanted to attend, she was describing A&M, even though she didn’t know it. God made this warrior to be a fightin’ Texas Aggie. She always appreciated the strength and solidarity that comes from commitment to tradition. She loved A&M. She didn’t just adopt its traditions, she actively sought them. Long before she knew what they were, she embodied the core values of Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect, and Selfless Service. She embraced her education with the true Aggie Spirit: determined to get everything she could out of her experience there, but always with her eye on the world and how she could use her education to serve it, protect it, and make it better.

She began A&M pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies, with a focus on Commerce and a minor in French. Two years in, she petitioned the university to add a second degree: a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics in Statistics. Through four years at A&M, she continued to battle recurrent Ewing’s, traveling home to Dallas for treatments, and to Miami and San Antonio to participate in clinical trials. She worked for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and was a tutor for the Mathematics Texas Success Initiative program.

In the fall of 2015, she had the great honor of receiving her Aggie Ring. No Aggie endured more or worked harder to be there. Through the fire of adversity, God forged in her a powerful instrument, and through her education, He armed her with a formidable weapon. Wanting to pursue a career in public service, this true Aggie was poised to make her fellow Aggies proud.

Lauren did not want to be, and was not defined by her battle with cancer. Instead, her battle gave a far-reaching voice to her incredible strength, wisdom, bravery, selflessness, and, most important, faith. She spoke on behalf of the American Cancer Society, 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation, Heroes for Children, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas. She also authored a blog on CaringBridge that was the source of inspiration for so many people, many of whom never met Lauren. When well-meaning friends would suggest this hard-working young woman take some time off—from work, school, or whatever—she would respond, “What is the point in fighting for your life if you don’t have a life worth fighting for?” And, Lauren had a life worth fighting for. Each time cancer robbed her of one dream, she would immediately replace it with another. She called her own shots and lived life on her own terms. She beat every prognosis and challenged every doctor to think outside the box.

When she received her final prognosis in September that she had a couple weeks to a couple of months left to live, Lauren made a bucket list and began checking off the items. She had just returned from a vacation in the Keys with Foster, the love of her life, and they turned around and took off for Colorado so that she could see the mountains. She then headed to A&M for the ultimate Aggie weekend, hosted by members of her incredible Aggie family. She fought hard to squeeze as much as she could out of each and every day and, in the process, gave those who loved her a shining example of how to live, really live, life. She will be dearly missed.

Lauren is preceded in death by her grandfather, Robert S. King; grandmother, Mary E. King; grandmother, Dorothy King; and grandfather, C. Robert McGahey.

Lauren is survived by far too many family, friends, and loved ones to appropriately list here.

She is also preceded in death by Anna, Makenna, Veronica, Nishant, Lilli, Kyle, Andrew, Hormozd, and far too many other Ewing’s Sarcoma warriors. For anyone who would like to make a donation in Lauren’s honor, the family suggests a donation to The 1 Million 4 Anna Foundation (http://www.1Million4Anna.org). While there are so many worthy organizations that Lauren supported, 1 Million 4 Anna is fighting Ewing’s Sarcoma Today, Tomorrow, and until its Gone, which will enable Lauren to achieve her very last dream: to beat Ewing’s.

A celebration of life for Lauren will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 1:00 PM at St. Philip's Episcopal Church, 6400 Stonebrook Pkwy, Frisco, TX 75034, with Rev. Greg Methvin presiding.  

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