Life Celebration Services will go forth at the Restoration Apostolic Ministries, 175 Fairgrounds Road, Natchitoches, LA 71457 Monday, June 27, 2022, 2:00 p. m.  Interment will follow in the Morning Star Baptist Church Cemetery, Natchez, LA 71456.

ALL ATTENDEES WILL NEED TO WEAR PROTECTIVE MASKS AND EXERCISE SOCIAL DISTANCING.

CELEBRATING A LIFE OF PURPOSE

Browne C. Lewis was born on January 27,
1962, to the union of the late Joe and
Josephine Lewis in the small town of
Natchez, Louisiana. She was very proud of her
small community and the community was proud
of her and even made her the Grand Marshall of
the Annual Heritage Festival. She was a small-
town girl who was determined to see the world.
She traveled out of the country extensively and
left her mark everywhere she traveled. Browne
confessed Christ at an early age and became
an active usher, choir member and youth leader
at Morning Star Baptist Church of Natchez, Louisiana. She resided in various states
and attended various churches. Her final church home was Providence Baptist Church in
Cleveland Ohio with Rev. Rodney Maiden as Senior Pastor.
For as long as we can remember, she wanted to be an agent of change. This passion led
her to pursue a career in law. After completing St. Matthew High School, she enrolled at
Grambling State University graduating at the top of her class with a B.A. in Political Science.
Prior to attending law school, she received summer fellowships to study at Carnegie-
Mellon University, the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, and the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She earned an M.A. in Public Policy
(Economics and Statistics) from the Humphrey Institute. Then, she earned her J.D. from the
University of Minnesota School of Law.
Showing her commitment and passion for higher education, she received an LLM in Energy
and Environmental Law from the University of Houston School of Law. Browne also spent
several summers studying abroad.
A prolific legal scholar, Browne did research in the areas of artificial intelligence, assisted
reproductive technology, environmental racism and inheritance law. Her scholarship has
appeared in prominent law reviews.
She is the author of several books, among them are Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial
Insemination and The Ethical and Legal Consequences of Posthumous Reproduction:
Arrogance, Avarice and Anguish.
Her accolades are too numerous to list, but to name a few – Browne was a Core Fulbright
Scholar at King College in the United Kingdom. After being one of only six law professors
selected as a Robert Wood Johnson Public Law Scholar, she worked with the Public Health
Department to study the public health consequences of allowing minors to purchase small cigars.

Browne was the Leon and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Law &  Policy at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Cleveland State University.
Browne has made numerous national and international presentations. She was a guest
lecturer at the International Congress on Law and Mental Health in Rome, Italy and Prague,
Czech Republic.

She also lectured at the World Congress on Bioethics, Medical Ethics and Health Law
in Jerusalem, Israel and Limassol, Cyprus. She warmly recalls traveling to a New Zealand
Bioethics Conference in Dunedin, New Zealand and losing her laptop thus requiring her to
write a final chapter in an upcoming book on her cell phone.
Notwithstanding her many achievements, there is no doubt that being named Dean of the
North Carolina Central University School of Law was her crowning achievement. This role
married her love for HBCUs with her passion for academia and the law. Although her tenure
was challenged by COVID and its impact, she persisted in focusing on excellence at every
level by enhancing and adding programs, services and resources. The upcoming launches
of the NCCU School of Law Technology Center and the Social Justice and Racial Equity
Institute are due to her vision, hard work and commitment to expanding the law school's
programs to ensure the law students were prepared for emerging careers in the legal
profession.
On a personal note, Browne enjoyed painting, playing her guitar and the piano. Her favorite
holiday was Christmas, and she decorated her house with at least seven trees. She planned
all her family's vacations and never missed acknowledging birthdays. She loved writing
mystery novels based on family experiences. She was fortunate to have longtime friends
who became part of her family; her girls' trips and other excursions, including her 60th
Birthday Celebration in January 2022, were times she truly treasured.
She was preceded in death by her beloved parents Joe and Josephine Lewis, three brothers,
Batt Lewis, Nova Blount, Glenn Timmons and one sister, Gloria Lewis Middleton. She
leaves to mourn, five sisters: Emma Lewis Rogers, Ora Bell Lewis, Evon Lewis Williams
(Oliver), Emma S. Lewis and Jeanie Palmer and two brothers Don Lewis and Joe Lewis
Jr., Esq. Although she did not have any biological children, her nieces, nephews and law
students were viewed as her children. Her mantra was "what God has for me, is for me."
God allowed her to fulfill many of her expectations. Her favorite scripture, undoubtedly
quoted hundreds of times, was Jeremiah 29:11 – "For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future." The Lewis Family will be forever grateful to the Creator for blessing and prospering
her to live a life of purpose.