news-record.com

GREENSBORO — When Dorothy Brown returned to Greensboro in 1978 to help take care of her ailing mother, she got a shock on the way from the airport.

A drug dealer approached her car as she traveled down McConnell Road and through the area known as “the Hill.”

“I told my driver that if I lived here long enough, I would get rid of that guy,” Brown recalled during a News & Record interview last year.

Brown, 81, died Tuesday after a battle with leukemia.

Her work in the 33 years since she moved back to Greensboro resulted in a street, a park and an apartment complex bearing her name.

“I’ll never forget the time Douglas Park had a lot of criminal element, and the kids couldn’t go to the park and play,” said Mayor Pro Tem Yvonne Johnson. “She brought a bunch of kids to the council meeting, and I remember how fast we mobilized police out there and got that park cleared.

"When Dorothy Brown sets her mind to something, she’s going to fight to the end.”

Funeral arrangements are pending.