Former Juneau resident, Wanda Jean Brown, 78, passed away on July 23, 2015, in Spokane, Washington from respiratory failure following open heart surgery. Wanda was born on July 16, 1937, to David Albert Beaver, Jr. and Ruby Lee (Marshall) Beaver in Hiddenite, NC. Wanda was the second of ten children and the first daughter born into this farming family. She recalled hard times as well as many adventures with her siblings in rural North Carolina. Wanda spent her high school years in Statesville, NC, living with an aunt and cousin. Wanda excelled in school and became involved with the Civil Air Patrol. After high school graduation in 1955 and two days after her 18th birthday, she pursued her interest in aviation by joining the U.S. Air Force. She was first sent to Wichita Falls, TX. Shortly after her arrival, another relatively new enlistee, Milton Brown, Jr. from Mystic, CT winked at her in the chow line. They were married on January 7, 1956. She was honorably discharged from the USAF on October 30, 1956, in Newburgh, NY. She gave birth to her first two children, Joan and Milt III, at the West Point Military Academy Hospital while Milt Jr. was stationed in New York. After he was honorably discharged from the USAF, they moved to Trinidad, CO, where Milt attended school to become a gunsmith. Just a few days after his graduation in June 1961, the two of them loaded up their green Dodge station wagon with four-year-old Joan, almost three-year-old Milt III, and two-month-old baby David and towing a small trailer headed to Juneau where Milt had a job waiting for him at Skinner's Gun Shop. They drove to Nebraska to visit friends and then entered Canada via Montana. Wanda kept a journal of the drive describing towns, road conditions, multiple flat tires, engine break-downs, wildlife sightings, rustic lodging, a chance encounter meeting a couple in Canada that knew Milt's grandfather in CT, and the challenges of a long drive with a very young baby and two active children. Wanda and Milt first lived on 5th Street in Douglas for a year and then moved to Thane. They lived in one of the mining houses until those were torn down and then bought the house that was at the site of the current Sheep Creek electrical substation. When they first moved in, water and groceries had to be hauled up the incredibly steep and only occasionally usable driveway or carried up 158 stairs. During these years, Wanda helped Milt start his sporting goods store, Brownie's Gun Shop, and worked for the State of Alaska in the Departments of Fish and Game and Health and Social Services. She was active in a local sorority and a member of the trap shooting club. Many weekends were spent at a cabin on the Taku River getting there via riverboat, run-about or float plane, often prefaced by a stop at the Taku Glacier Lodge. After divorcing in 1967, Wanda moved the children to Lehigh Acres, FL in 1968 for one year where she started a career as a medical records transcriptionist. Then two years were spent in Shelby, NC and in 1971 Wanda moved the family to Auburn, WA. Wanda ultimately went to work for Boeing as a security clearance technician and retired from the company. In 2004 she moved to St. Augustine, FL for the sun, but instead experienced a busy year of hurricanes. In 2005 she moved back to the Pacific Northwest and settled in Spokane Valley, WA where she resided until her passing. Wanda enjoyed travel. She traveled extensively in Europe and went to Mexico several times. She also visited Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. She enjoyed gardening and always looked forward to homegrown tomatoes. Wanda was pre-deceased by her parents; her brother Waitsel Beaver; her sisters Marjorie Beaver and Teresa Roberts, and her son David Brown. Wanda is survived by two brothers: Larry Beaver and Joe (Pat) Beaver; four sisters: Faye Ingram, Linda Rogers, Margaret (Reece) Childers, and Brenda (Gary) Lail, all of North Carolina; her daughter, Joan Brown of Juneau, AK; her son, Milt Brown of Desert Hot Springs, CA; four grandchildren: Adair Rainery and Mark Rainery of Juneau, AK; Heather (Shawn) Long of Harrisburg, OR; and Alyssa (Chris) Perez of Converse, TX; five great-grandchildren: Katelin and Dawson Reschke, Landon and Carolyn Long, and Zaiden Perez; and numerous extended family members. Wanda's ashes were interred at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake, WA following a memorial service on August 19, 2015.