Our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother Vila Rawlings Brown passed away on Saturday, Feb 15 in Sandy, Utah of natural causes at the age of 91.
She was born in Lewiston, Utah on Aug 25th, 1922 to Oscar R. Rawlings and Navella Wiser Rawlings. She grew up in Fairview Idaho on the family farm and attended Preston High School. She then studied shorthand at BYU where she met her future husband Robert J Brown on a blind date. They were married in Beloit Wisconsin on July 10, 1943 and were later sealed in the Logan Temple on Dec 20, 1955. They had four children, Jimmy, Susan, Janice and Nancy and raised their family in Brigham City, Utah until 1969 when they moved to Boise, Idaho. After her husband\s retirement they had the opportunity to live in Colombo Sri Lanka, Lahore Pakistan and Cairo Egypt while her husband was working as a consultant to foreign governments. They later served a LDS temple mission in New Zealand after which they finally settled down in Sandy, Utah.
Vila was a poet, world traveler, loving wife and mother and a wonderful grandmother. She was intelligent and loved to read. Besides being blessed with 4 wonderful children, she had 9 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren that brought her much joy in her later years. She is preceded in death by her husband Bob, her son Jimmy, two grandsons Brad Stapleton and James Gross and her siblings Clell, Retta, Elaine, Claire, Sheldon and Alice as well as her two adoptive siblings Faye and Richard Wiser. She is survived by daughters Susan Morris (Mountie), Janice Stapleton (Tim) and Nancy Brown (Jonathan), as well as her sister Donna and brother Arvin.
We express much appreciation to the wonderful caregivers at Sandy Atria as well as the many friends and neighbors who provided much care and compassion over the years.
Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, Feb. 19th at the LDS Prescott Chapel, 10975 S. Prescott Dr., Sandy, UT with a viewing held from 10-10:45 am prior to services. Interment will be held at Fairview, Idaho cemetery after the funeral services.
