CHS - Class of 79
History Since Graduation

Mary Ann McFall Brown

I attended Mississippi State University in the fall of 1979 and after trying out various departments on campus, I decided to major in accounting. I had a lot of fun while at Miss. State, especially after the first year, and certainly wish I had opted for a 5 year degree. Upon graduation in 1983, I moved to Memphis and began my career as a Staff Accountant for Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young). Somehow, I managed to pass the CPA exam the following year.

While at Miss. State I met Joe Brown from Leland, Mississippi (another accountant!). He accepted a job in Dallas, Texas and I guess you could say I followed suit and relocated with Ernst & Whinney to Dallas in the summer of 1985 and moved in with three college friends. Dallas was huge compared to Memphis but we quickly met several folks and began to love it! Joe and I were married in 1986 and stayed in Dallas. I left public accounting to get away from the travel and became an internal auditor for Texas Independent Bank, but knew right away that was not for me.

In 1988, I began working for Lomas Financial Group, primarily a mortgage banking firm, as Director of Corporate Accounting. I really enjoyed my job and the challenges it provided, but finally Joe and I decided we were ready for a family. Our first son, Preston, was born in 1992 and William was born in 1995 and because Lomas had a wonderful on-site preschool, I continued to work. For a while, I enjoyed climbing the corporate ladder, but finally the stress of juggling a career and family got to me. I knew I wanted to spend more time with my children. As a result of two bankruptcy filings by Lomas, the company was forced to sell most of its assets and reorganize as a much smaller company downsizing from over 2,000 employees to about ten remaining in 1997.

In August of 1997, Joe was offered a transfer with his employer, the Trammell Crow Company, to Memphis. My job had dwindled to less than full-time and I was able to convince my employer that I could continue it from Memphis. With the current technology available, I am still working part-time from home for the reorganized company, Siena Holdings, Inc., preparing its quarterly and annual financial statements and SEC filings. Finding time with two busy boys is my main challenge! Well, enough of all of that professional stuff....

My main job now is being a stay-at-home mom and I love it!!!!   Preston, now 7, will be in first grade this fall at Dogwood Elementary here in Germantown. He is very active in sports, loves to read and is always correcting me when I forget something - all too often!  William, age 4, is my easy-going child that is happy most all of the time!  He is the main reason I can work from home!  I also stay very busy with their school activities and in our church, Germantown United Methodist.  When I can find extra time, I love to work in my yard, do projects in the house (painting, sewing, wallpapering, even minor construction!), and have recently tried to start playing tennis again.

We are very happy to be back in the Southeast and much closer to both of our families and old friends. Since my parents moved to Savannah, Tennessee a few years ago, I don't get to go to Corinth much anymore. I do miss that and so I am really looking forward to the reunion. It has been fun following the work on the web page (thanks Scott!) and helping to locate classmates, but now I am ready to actually chat with everyone!!