On Sept. 10, Courtney Brown Gabrielson was gathered into the Universe.
Courtney was born in Tokyo, Japan, on April 29, 1954, to his father, Alston Law Brown, a career Air Force officer who was a Japanese linguist serving in Japan after World War II as the assistant air attache to help re-establish that country’s Air Force, and his mother, Jean Jorgensen Brown, who was working for the English language Asahi Evening News as a reporter.
In 1961, recently widowed Jean moved Courtney and her three sisters, Derryle, Brooks and Tracy, to St. Thomas. She attended Antilles School, graduated from Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1972 and attended Denver University until returning to St. Thomas in 1976.
She worked in the family business Caribbean Travel Agency/Tropic Tours, and, except for a time while owning and managing the Frenchtown restaurant Portofino, became the president/CFO. She was married to Ron Gabrielson, who was the owner and trainer at Tropic Training on Solberg until he died in 2016, and has one son, Egon Gabrielson.
She worked tirelessly in the family business, established in1961 by Jean, along with her sisters and many long-time co-workers who through the decades were considered family members as well.
In 2020, following changes within the travel and tourism industries, multiple hurricanes with constant rebuilding and a decline in her health, Courtney reluctantly decided to leave her beloved St. Thomas and its people and friends to move to Venice, Fla. Without the care provided by family and longtime St. Thomas friend Lisa Berger, she may have left us earlier, but Courtney was formidable in her unwavering courage, spirit and acceptance of things to come, always with a smile and love for those around her.
Courtney is preceded in death by her father Alston Brown; her mother, Jean Brown Hendricks; stepfather, Jens Hendricks; sister, Brooks Brown; and husband, Ron Gabrielson. She is survived by her son, Egon Gabrielson, his wife, Beth, and their two children: daughter, Charlie and son, Bohdi; her sisters: Derryle and her husband David Berger and Tracy Brown and her husband, Tom Wiggins; and special friends: Lisa Berger and Suzy Berecz.
Her many friends and her family will always remember Courtney for her intelligence, warmth and irrepressible sense of humor. She was a joy to know and will be sorely missed.
An announcement of a celebration of the lives of Courtney and Brooks to be held on St. Thomas will be provided at a later date.
