Gayle Brown

GAYLE BECK BROWN was born July 7, 1928 in Lanark, Bear Lake, Idaho, to Joseph Frederick Beck and Rebecca Ethel Porter.  She grew up in the small town of 150 people.  She attended a two-room elementary school, usually walking to school and church, even during the winters.  She had six sisters and three brothers.

She graduated from Fielding High School in 1946.  She went to the University of Utah her freshman year, then transferred to BYU to attend school with her youngest sister.  She was a member of Lamba Delta Sigma while there.  She worked at a tomato factory in Syracuse, Utah; waitressing at Pinecrest Lodge in Emigration Canyon, and as a cabin girl at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

She served an 18- month mission in the Northwestern States.  Upon her return she worked for 18 months at the Army Depot in Ogden.  After graduation from college she became a secretary and the Research Assistant to the Director of Libraries.  She saved her pennies and took a three-month tour of ten countries in Europe.  After her trip she returned as Research Assistant and went to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. for research, to Denver, CO to choose books for the BYU library, and helped the director plan the McKay Library.

She met Raymond Carroll Brown at a friend’s house and they married in August, 1959.  They lived in Western Samoa, while Ray taught school there.  Upon returning stateside they lived in Bremerton, WA while Ray worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.  They then moved to Rexburg and Sugar City, ID where Ray taught school at Ricks College for 24 years.  Gayle also worked at the Ricks Library as a Reference Librarian.  She loved to sing, read, write, sew, travel, and cook.

After retiring they moved to Walla Walla, WA,   Millville, UT,   Milton-Freewater, OR, and Paradise, UT.  The last six months of her life were spent at Maple Springs Assisted Living in Brigham City, UT.  She loved the fellowship and the friends she made there, especially the ladies she dined with, her neighbors, and Janet, with whom she enjoyed conversations in the library about books.

She is survived by her children:  Kathy (Paul) Nelson,  Becky (Paul) Hepworth, David (Annette) Brown, and Chris (Sylvia) Brown; 19 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and one sister Betty Jo (Evan) Ivie of Nauvoo, IL.

The family would like to thank the Brigham City Community Hospital, Ogden Regional Medical Center, Pineview Rehabilitation, and Integrity Hospice and Care for their service for Gayle.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Church Education Fund, or your local library.