Shalunda Renea (Grayned) Brown

Shalunda Renéa (Grayned) Brown, age 57 of Harker Heights, Texas passed away on July 19, 2025. Born on November 27, 1967 in Rockford, Illinois, she was the beloved daughter of Willie Grayned and Mary Simmons Grayned. She was baptized at a young age at Macedonia Baptist Church in Rockford IL. Shalunda graduated from Auburn High School Class of 1985. In 1986, she got married to her first husband and high school boyfriend James Sockwell, and moved down to Texas due to him being in the military and stationed to Fort Hood TX.  In 1989, they welcomed their baby boy James Sockwell jr. Shalunda and James amicably parted ways. She met her current husband Robert Brown in 1995. In 1997 they were married. In 2001, they welcomed a baby girl together, Kayla Brown. The birth of her daughter would bring her mother, Mary, to Texas.Mary helped Shalunda raise her kids while Robert was deployed and Shalunda helped Mary raise her great nieces and nephew Rhonda Charles, Lynda and Lyndon Lambert. Shalunda had many jobs, but she soon settled and began her professional career at Applied Material manufacturing software chips until 2001. She than began working for Nextel that later became Sprint, where she served as a dedicated and well-respected manager.  She eventually retired and became a full time stay a home mom. With her sharp wit, bold personality, and an occasional potty mouth that kept everyone on their toes, Shalunda brought energy into every room she entered. She loved to shop, whether in a store or online; and was a movie and television buff through and through. The Color Purple, Waiting to Exhale, along with Lifetime and Own network channels were among some of her favorites and she never passed up a chance to go to the theater. At home, Shalunda loved to cook but also enjoyed her husband Robert’s delicious cooking, relaxing with R&B music (especially Mary J. Blige), and hosting loved ones at their house. She became a magnet for her family, drawing many of them from Illinois to Texas and proudly embracing a matriarchal role. She built a family and a life filled with laughter, love, and leadership. She was helpful and nurturing, offering second chances to those others might overlook. Her love and loyalty were unmatched. Shalunda’s presence was a blessing to all who knew her. She was a force, a woman of humor, strength, and compassion and her legacy of love and resilience will live on in the hearts of her family and friends forever.

She is preceded in death by her daughters: India and Shante Sockwell, son Dante Sockwell, mother Mary Grayned; and sister Juanta Coffman.

She survived by her father Willie Grayned; husband Robert Brown; son James Sockwell, Jr. and his partner Ashley Curtis; daughter Kayla Brown; seven grandchildren: Jha'Marrion Rose, Lia’Nya Curtis, James Sockwell III, Myah Curtis, Xzavion Curtis,  Ja’Erinae Sockwell and Jada Sockwell; brother Lamont Grayned; sisters: Sherry Grayned and  Desiree' Atkins; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other extended family members and friends.

Funeral Service will be 12:00 PM Friday, August 8, 2025 at the Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church -Dallas, Texas

Burial will follow at the Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery -Dallas, Texas.

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