Ronald Harold Brown passed away peacefully in his Centralia home on the morning of July 5, 2024, at the age of 90.
Ron was born to William H. Brown and Cecilia E. (Struthers) Brown on May 10, 1934, in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He spent his early years in Oak Park and Winlock, Washington, and later to Forks, Washington, where his father served as school superintendent.
Ron graduated from Forks High School in 1952 and lettered in football and basketball. It was at that time that he showed aspirations of someday becoming a high school coach. He then went on to attend the University of Washington to play freshman and junior varsity basketball. While at the U of W, he was a member of the SAE fraternity. After two years at the U of W, he transferred to the College of Puget Sound (now the University of Puget Sound). He played basketball there for two years and graduated in 1957 with a degree in education.
He then began a remarkable and celebrated career as one of the greatest coaches in Washington state history. Ron started in Castle Rock, Washington, where he taught and coached under Hall of Fame coach Floyd LeBaron. In 1959, he started his historic career in Centralia.
In 1960, a lovely lady from England, Janet Read, came to Centralia as an exchange teacher. She was excited to move to the Pacific Northwest to explore and enjoy its natural beauty. Ron and Janet met and soon fell in love and were married in Burien on July 22, 1961. They chose to make Centralia their home and raise a family.
While Ron is most notably recognized as a basketball coach, he also served as head baseball coach for seven years and won six league championships. He coached 10 years for the girl’s slow pitch team and placed first, second and third in state and qualified two other times. He was the head tennis coach for three years and an assistant football coach for three years. Three of his children played for him as well: Julie in softball and David and Tim in basketball.
Ron was a history teacher for 34 years and was respected and loved by his former students. For many years, he was the senior class advisor at the high school. He truly loved American History and worked for the American Heritage tours for many years where he led students (and adults in later years) on tours of historical sites in Washington, D.C, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and other cities. The tours eventually expanded to the Southern U.S. and Europe. Ron and Janet also worshiped at the Nazarene Church in Centralia.
Ron served as the head basketball coach for the Centralia Tigers for an astonishing 56 years. During those years, Ron and the Tigers won two state championships (1979 and 1981) and also placed second, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth (twice) at state. His teams also qualified for state seven other times.
Coach Brown racked up 723 career wins, ranking third on the list of all-time winningest coaches in Washington, all at one school. He fostered Centralia basketball through his “Saturday Basketball” where current and former players would teach the game to the youth of budding future Tigers. Coach Brown had annual summer camps where renowned coaches throughout the state would also participate. His 56-year tenure is the longest ever in the state for boys’ basketball. Ron was twice named Washington State Coach of the Year and in 1999 was selected to receive the National Federation of Distinguished Coaches Award for Boys Basketball. He was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006.
A true advocate of sportsmanship, he never received a technical foul in his 58 years. The court at Centralia High School was named in his honor in 2008, with the gymnasium fondly remembered as “Ron’s House.”
Ron made far reaching impacts on countless lives. He was more than a coach. He was a devoted husband to Janet for 63 years, a loving father to his four children and many grandchildren, and a great friend to many crossing multiple generations. He was a welcoming and caring individual to all he met, a humble man of principle and a natural leader. Ron was fun. He had a welcoming and radiant smile, and often entertained his family with his own versions of song and dance. He also had an amazing memory as he could recall players, important moments in various games and even statistics. He also published a book on the history of Centralia basketball at age 86 which highlighted his relentless attention to detail.
Some of Ron’s favorite activities included the annual family camping outing at Kalaloch, birthday and holiday celebrations at home with family and friends, making world famous homemade pickles, fishing, reading, watching old westerns, and fireside chats with former coaches, players and friends.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Janet; his children, Alisa Peterson (Ron), of Bellevue, Washington, David Brown (Mareen), of Centralia, Tim Brown (Anna), of Olympia, Washington, and Julie Kaut (Randy) of Centralia. He is also survived by his nine grandchildren: Jake and Abby Peterson; William, Devon and Lily Brown; Ronney and Eleah Brown; and Carissa and Landon Kaut. Ron was preceded in death by his brother, Vincent S. Brown, in 2019.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at Ron Brown Court at Centralia High School. Please do feel free to wear Tiger gear. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Ron’s memory to CHS Dollars for Scholars or CAAFF.
