Susan Young Browne, oldest living DSU alum, celebrates 108th year

Susan Young Browne, DSU’s current oldest living alumna, is older than sliced bread.

Sliced bread loaves made their first appearance on grocery store shelves in 1928.

Mrs. Browne, born on April 24, 1918, is 10 years older than sliced bread.

That was just one of the amazing facts of her longevity shared at a May 2 celebration of Mrs. Browne’s 108 years (and still counting) of life held at the Harvest House fellowship hall of Whatcoat United Methodist Church of Dover.

More than 130 people attended, united in love, profound amazement, and heartfelt admiration for the currently oldest living resident of Dover, Del., (that, according to Dover Mayor Robin R. Christensen, who also took part in the celebration).

Levy Court Commissioners Terry Pepper and Joanne Masten (LC President) presented a Tribute which noted “Ms. Browne has witnessed more than a century of history, growth, and change, and her life stands as a living bridge across generations…. (she is recognized) not only for her longevity but for the legacy she represents: family, community, and the enduring contributions of those who came before us.”

She still walks very well – as she proved when she strolled into the event escorted by her son James Young II. Her mind and her articulation skills are still good. And according to her daughter Lynette Young Overby (who served as the event’s emcee), Mrs. Young still drives her car.

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer could not stay away from the event. “I came to learn from you what I need to do to live so long,” he said.

Born April 24, 1918, in Lincoln, Del., Susan was the 10th of 12 children of her parents, George and Susie Brown. By the time she was school age, her father – a tenant farmer – had moved the family to a 40-acre farm located between Houston and Milford, Del.

It was then that Susan began her years in Delaware’s segregated education system, which spanned her elementary and high school years and a large part of her later career as a public school teacher. “I went to school in a one-room school in Houston, Del., and we lived five miles from the (colored) school,” Susan said.

Ms. Browne said that as a youth, she took a liking to going to school. “The most important things I had in mind were to get an education and become a teacher,” she said in a 2021interview for The DSU Echo alumni publication.

Mrs. Browne graduated from the High School of the State College for Colored Students and then married James Young and began building a family, which delayed her college degree for a few years. It took her seven years, but she graduated from the State College for Colored Students in 1945 with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education.

She said living on the Del State campus was a step up for her and many others. “Most of the young ladies were from the country, where we didn’t have any electricity or running water; we didn’t have bathrooms,” she said. “We were glad to be (on campus) and to be continuing our education at the Delaware State College for Colored Students High School.”

After beginning her teaching career in 1945 with brief periods at Ellendale Elementary School and John Wesley Elementary School in Milford. Ms. Browne then taught at Lockwood Elementary School in Hartly, Del., from 1946 to 1956. She then taught at Booker T. Elementary School in Dover while also serving as the business manager for her husband’s school bus service.

With that district’s end of segregated education in 1965, Susan was reassigned to teach at Fairview Elementary School, where she taught until her retirement in 1977 – which completed a 30-year teaching career.

In a 2020 interview, Mrs. Browne said that after having been a teacher in segregated and integrated schools, she preferred teaching in the colored schools but had no problem teaching white students. “I had to adjust the same as the children had to adjust,” she said. “Students accepted you as their teacher. I didn’t have any problem with them.”

As a retiree, she became a world traveler, taking trips to California, Hawaii, Alaska, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and other destinations. Many of those trips were taken with her second husband, Dr. Clifton Browne, a Delaware State social work professor, whom she married in 1993. He passed away in 2001. Mr. Young, her first husband, passed away in 1988.

Susan is a longtime member of Whatcoat United Methodist Church of Dover, where she has served as an usher and a trustee and, over the years, has belonged to a number of the church’s organizations. She is a life member of the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa Alpha Pi Chapter.

While further research is needed, it is believed that Mrs. Young may be the longest-living graduate in Delaware State University history.