Alice Dean Gray Browning

Alice Dean Gray Browning, 94, of Nebo, went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at Rose Hill Retirement Community.

She and her twin sister were born at the Blackbear Camp in McDowell County on November 8, 1931. Alice was the older of the twins born to the late Joe Gray and Ida Bost Gray.

Alice loved the Lord and was a longtime member of Oak Grove Baptist Church. She was formerly employed at Drexel Heritage. In 1958, the family moved to the Browning Dairy Farm, and Alice truly embraced her roles there. She was a talented seamstress, and she was known for her pine needle basket weaving. She often gave her baskets as gifts that her family and friends will forever cherish. Alice also enjoyed picking blackberries and muscadines and making jelly. A wonderful cook, she was known for her pound cakes and baking. She was a devoted mother and grandmother and cherished “Aunt Deanie” to her nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Harley Ray Browning; an infant brother; and her sisters, Virginia Dare Houck, Evelyn Dellinger, Carolyn Spencer, and her beloved twin sister, Elizabeth Conley.

Those left to cherish her memory are her three children, Richard Browning, Kathy “Sis” Yates (Kenneth), and Burt Browning (Leslie Lee-Browning); two grandchildren, Elliot Browning and Avery Browning (Jeremy Nielsen); and a number of nieces, nephews, and friends.

The family will receive friends on Saturday, March 7, 2026 from 2:00 until 3:00 p.m. at Beam Funeral Service. A funeral service will begin at 3:00 p.m. at the funeral home with Rev. Joe Browning, Rev. Gerald Reynolds, and Rev. Kenneth Mashburn officiating. A private burial will be held at a later date at Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery.