Ellsworth "Reade" Brown

Ellsworth "Reade" Brown, 94, left this world and all who loved him dearly the morning of December 21. He was born in rural eastern Washington near Mount Hope to a farming family who later bought a farm near Cheney. Reade graduated from Cheney High School, did a very brief stint in the Army (thanks to rheumatic fever) then enrolled at the University of Idaho and was subsequently hired by the Washington State Department of Game where he spent the next 40 years doing what he always loved, working with wildlife.

In 1952 he married the other love of his life, Eddie. They moved a lot and travelled a lot, always making it home to the farm for the holidays and always finding time to stop for dinner and visit with nieces and nephews. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary before Eddie left this world in 2008. Together they also shared a love for dogs, mostly black labs, starting with Andy and ending with Charlie.

The Game Department was established in 1936 and in 1975 Reade was appointed as the second-ever Chief of the Wildlife Management Division before retiring in 1980, only to continue working for the Forest Service, then consulting, then volunteering before he and Eddie finally took to the road for a trip to visit every state (they only missed Delaware).

In 2009 Reade moved to the little yellow house on the farm. For several more years he worked a 40-foot by 70-foot garden full of vegetables and flowers which he took by the box to local farmer's markets. In 2014 he published "Fifty Years of Fur, Feather and Fins," a book we all cherish. His adventures were well-documented and we all loved to sit down and hear a story from Uncle Reade. He was preceded in death by his brother and two sisters. He is survived by 10 nieces and nephews.

Family and friends are gathering for a memorial service at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019 at Cheney United Methodist Church, 204 Fourth St. in Cheney.

Reade would be honored by any memorial donations going to Meals on Wheels which was dear to his heart.