Antoinette D. Ellis-Brown

Antoinette, known as Toni, passed away on August 30, 2020, at her home in Indialantic. Her husband, David, was present as she passed peacefully to be with the Lord.

Toni was born in Normandy, France just before the WW II started. Her family owned a large farm in Central Normandy. Her mother, Odette, was the only girl of eight children. Her father, Amand, enlisted into the French Army in 1940 and died in battle. During the occupation, her mother was a refugee with 2 infant children., With her sister, Yolande, Toni had to move from small village to small village, where her mother worked on farms to keep her children fed. After the war ended in 1945, her mother remarried and they settled in Cherbourg. Toni was a very precocious child and usually got into trouble with her stepfather. At 15, she started to work as an apprentice hair stylist. In 1955, she moved to Paris to live with her sister and to finish her apprenticeship. In 1958, she became a licensed cosmetologist, and worked at a very successful salon on the Rue Victor Hugo. She met and married Norman (Chris) Brown in 1961 and they moved to the USA the same year.

Chris and Toni moved to Melbourne in 1965, when her employer, Vincent and Vincent, wanted her to open and manage a beauty salon at the Melbourne Mall on Babcock Avenue. Chris’ brother also lived in the area. Their first son, Patrick, was born in 1966. Chris re-enlisted into the service in April of 1969 and was sent to Viet Nam, where he was killed. Their second son, Christian, was born in November. She raised her two sons alone for some 10 years.

Toni started her own business, Toni’s Coiffures of Art in 1969, located on Eau Gallie Boulevard, beach side. She owned the business for over 25 years and sold it in the mid 1990s and it became Dan’s Salon. Many of the successful cosmetologists in the area owe their career success to Toni’s influence. Toni never retired and was working until the Pandemic closed all of the salons.

Toni met David Ellis-Brown in July of 1979 and they were married in November at the Wren Chapel at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. They were married for over 40 wonderful years.

Toni has four grandchildren, Patrick has three daughters, Sierra, Natalie, and Christy. Christian has a son, Gavin. She is also a great-grandmother to Sierra’s daughters, Lily and Carliegh.

Toni was member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority for over 50 years. She was also a member of the Garden Club by the Sea and had served on the Women’s Advisory Board at the Eau Gallie Yacht Club.

Services will be held at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 3050 N. Hwy A1A, Indialantic, on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020 at 1:00 pm with visitation beginning at 12:30 pm. A celebration of Toni’s Life will be held at a later date.