Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Arloine "Barlee" Brown, shown here on her 99th birthday last year, turns 100 on Jan. 22.
DAVENPORT – Arloine "Barlee" Brown, formerly Boyk, remembers World War II, growing up during the Great Depression and has spent over 80 years of her life combined here. Now, she's celebrating her centennial birthday Jan. 22.
Brown, who is called "Barlee" by most who know her, was born in Rocklyn, but grew up on a farm about four miles from Bluestem and eight miles from Davenport. She spent her time riding horses and singing with her parents and three siblings, all of whom she has survived. She and her younger sister, Lois Brown, also known as the "Darlings of Davenport," professionally sang old-time tunes for Spokane radio during their youth.
"I grew up on a horse, I'd say," Brown said. "We rode horseback to country school for four years."
Her siblings and herself attended a one-room schoolhouse for four years, where she surprised her teacher with her knowledge of reading, which she obtained by extensive book reading as a child.
"The teacher gave us something to read, and she said 'Arloine, you're supposed to read this,' and I said, 'I already have!'" Brown said.
Brown graduated from the high school here in 1938. Her graduating class helped pick the "Gorilla" mascot. She drew many gorilla sketches used by the schools for t-shirts and emblems.
She married Ralph Brown in 1939 and moved with him to Palm Springs, where he was in the Army leading exercises for troops, as he held a college degree in physical education. The two went to Lind for eight years after the war, before moving back to Davenport in 1958, where "Barlee" has lived ever since.
During that time, the Browns had four children: Merrily Deardoff, a retired nurses' aide living in Spokane, Dewey Brown, a former teacher in Bridgeport who is deceased, Jerry Brown, an Army captain and military pilot who died in combat, and Marita Cardinal, a professor at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon.
Ralph and "Barlee" were married for 61 years before Ralph's passing in 2000.
Raising her four children kept Brown busy as her husband held administrative jobs at the schools in Lind and Davenport. She was also highly involved in the community.
"What I was, was 'my mom will do it,'" Brown quipped. "Anything my kids could possibly volunteer me for, I would do it."
Brown is an active member of the Methodist church here. She also helped found Care & Share in the 1980s and worked there for about 25 years.
Additionally, she worked for the election board. The city used to have in-person voting at the Lutheran church, and Brown would help organize and run that process.
She was the grand marshal of the Davenport Parade in 2009. She also spent time as a beautician and knew about hair care.
Brown enjoys the community of Davenport and has remained her due to her involvement in the Methodist church and her enjoyment of the people here.
"Everybody used to go to town on Saturday night," Brown said. "The men would gather at the pool table and talk about hiring somebody or whatnot, and the women would talk and gossip with their friends (while) the children ran loose and had a marvelous time...growing up (here) was fun."
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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