Living 100 years in style
(Courtesy photo) Richie Anne Brown, pictured here at age 16, turns 100 years old on Monday in Sandpoint.
(Courtesy Photo) Richie Anne Brown, who turns 100 years old on Monday, is pictured here on the Orient Express in 1999.
(Courtesy photo) Richie Anne Brown, who turns 100 years old on Monday, rides in the passenger seat of her son, Stephen Brown's, car in a 2013 Sandpoint parade.
(Courtesy photo) Richie Anne Brown, who turns 100 years old Monday, is pictured here at a New Year's Eve party in 2000, at age 83.
SANDPOINT — Richie Anne Brown is a world traveler who lived among the stars in North Hollywood, yet here she is, in Sandpoint, Idaho, ready to turn 100 years old Monday.
"She is so regal and intelligent, and is passionate about politics and her religion," said Brown's granddaughter, Carri Morgan. "And she's always dressed to the nines. "
Morgan said her grandmoth- er has always been "very glamorous." Her favorite color is purple and she has an "incredible" sweet tooth, which, of course, Morgan inherited. She is also tough enough to have survived a massive heart attack several years ago. Brown attributes her longevity, Morgan said, to her relationship with God.
Brown and her late husband, LaRue Brown, married on Christmas Day, Morgan said, and spent 54 years together. In that time, the couple traveled together to the Orient, the Caribbean, Norway, Tahiti, Fiji, Africa and more.
One of Brown's favorite places, Morgan said, was the Ocho Rios River in Jamaica. Morgan said that trip, for some reason, really stuck with her. Also, in Oslo, Norway, the couple took a train on an excursion into the mountains, and somewhere on top of the mountain range, someone sang to them. In Russia, the couple visited the Hermitage Museum, a palace of Catherine the Great, which was "magnificently beautiful."
"Her life has been full of travel," Morgan said. "The love of her life was my grandfather and they had a great life together."
LaRue Brown was a railroad engineer and a contractor, Morgan said. He built luxury homes, and while Richie Anne did not do it as a career per se, she would do the interior decorating in the houses. As a railroad engineer, he drove the trains in all the old Hollywood westerns, so the couple mingled with many of the movie stars.
It was rare for a woman to attend college in the 1930s, but Brown did, and that is where she met her husband. Morgan said she believes her grandmother studied English, because she is the "master of the English language."
With a passion for politics, Brown spent time as president of the North Hollywood Republican women's group. She was also a member and president of the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for a time.
Brown was born in Florida, Morgan said, and moved to North Hollywood as a child. Her son, Morgan's father, moved to the Sandpoint area in 2000, so Brown built a house on his property. Morgan's father, Stephen Brown, is her only child, and he had three children — two live in the area along with a few great-grandkids, all of whom call her Nana. Brown also has a brother who still lives in Florida with his wife, Morgan said.
Morgan and her sister-in-law are planning a big bash for Brown today at Luther Park, the assisted living community where she now resides. But the party is no surprise. In fact, Morgan said her grandmother has been asking her regularly how the party planning is going. Morgan said she has been going through a lot of photographs from throughout Brown's life to display during the party.
"She is going to love it, because it's going to be all about her," Morgan said. "It will be fun — and she is very much looking forward to it."
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.