Janet (Read) Brown passed away peacefully at the age of 88 on July 31, 2026. Janet was born in London, England, on Dec. 8, 1937, to Charles and Alice Read, six years after her sister, Christine. She lived in various cities across England and graduated from the University of Liverpool.
After graduation, she saw an advertisement for a teacher exchange program in Centralia, Washington. She was excited to embark upon this journey to explore and visit the beauty of Washington state. She moved to Centralia in 1960 and began teaching English literature at Centralia High School, where she met the love of her life, Ron Brown. Ron and Janet married in 1961.
In 1963, while very pregnant with their first child, Alisa, Janet and Ron discovered her visa to the U.S. was expiring and that she was soon to be deported back to England. They appealed the deportation and were initially denied. After much media attention and legal support, Janet was allowed to stay in Centralia and continue her life there, where she became a U.S. citizen. She loved her life in Centralia but also took great pride in her English heritage.
As a child, Janet enjoyed playing field hockey and later enjoyed hiking, gardening, tea parties, long walks around Centralia, chocolate and cookies. The family also did a lot of camping, which included an annual trip to the coast at Kalaloch on the northwestern shore of Washington. This trip was attended by all of her children and grandchildren, among other friends, and provided her wonderful memories.
Ron and Janet also did extensive traveling across the country, as well as to her homeland in England and other European countries. Janet also endured 56 years as the wife of a highly decorated high school basketball coach. She was a solid supporter of her husband and the many teams he coached and was loved and respected by so many over those years.
Janet attended the Church of the Nazarene for nearly 50 years. She also served as a volunteer for the Lewis County jail ministries, both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), a Christian organization that provided peer support, discussion groups, leadership and fellowship to mothers of young children.
Janet was preceded in death by her husband, Ron, in 2024; her son, David, in 2025; and her sister, Christine, in 2018.
Survivors include daughter Alisa (Ron) Peterson and their children, Jake and Abby; son Tim (Anna) Brown and their children, Ronney and Eleah; daughter Julie (Randy) Kaut and their children, Carissa and Landon; and daughter-in-law Mareen, spouse of David Brown, and their children, William, Devon and Lily.
A celebration of life will take place Thursday, Aug. 20, at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Nazarene in Centralia.
The family would like to thank all of the caregivers at Lander House in Centralia for their loving support of Janet over the past year and a half.
