Carla Marie Brown, 58

Carla Marie Brown, 58, wife of former county commissioner Gene Brown, passed away on Dec. 22, 2008, at Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint, Idaho.She was born on Jan. 5, 1949, at Whidbey Island, Wash.Carla attended schools in southern California, graduating from Valencia High School in 1966. Her first job was managing Custom Art Press, which handled specialty publications. She was working as a legal secretary for attorney Mark B. Jones at her passing.Moving to Idaho in 1977, she and her husband dealt in mail order used and rare books. They later sold books at Foster's Crossing, then opened a large store in the old Safeway building across from the Sandpoint Library. Here people were greeted by their pet dachshund, Fritz, "the book store dog." When the hospital bought the building, they moved to their last location near Fourth and Poplar.Carla, under the encouragement of her mother Neoma and stepfather Mike Hough, a Pearl Harbor survivor who saw much combat in World War II, was an avid reader. To get youngsters into reading, Carla developed many programs which were of great help to local parents and teachers. For most of her life, she read at least one and often two books a day.She served two terms as chairman of the Bonner County Republican Central Committee. Under her leadership, this group won the first blue ribbons ever at the county fair … along with Republican candidates eventually gaining a majority for county and state elected positions.As a young girl, Carla became challenged by epilepsy. She never let this affect her goals or work performance in any way.Carla was preceded in death by her biological father, Bob Reathaford; her stepfather, Marshal N. "Mike" Hough; and her grandparents. She is survived by her mother, Neoma; a brother, Patrick; three sisters, Barbara, Kathy and Susan; and husband, Gene; along with several nieces and nephews.Her husband often said that a description of Carla could be found in the Bible at Proverbs 41. After an intense study of the Bible, she became a baptized Christian in December 1989.A memorial service for her will be held on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on West Pine Street.