Memorial service Wednesday for former longtime planning commissioner

A memorial service is 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Gall Catholic Church for longtime planning commissioner JoEtta Brown.

Brown died Aug. 13, 2022, following complications from a stroke.

Planning Commissioner Margaret Pross served for a good bit of the dozen years Brown was on the board.

“Jo Etta and I became close friends through the years that we were both on the Planning Commission,” Pross said. “We shared the same commitment to our positions, always read all the materials regarding the various applications, address the questions and concerns that we may have for any application.”

Brown was appointed to the Planning Commission in 2008. Pross was appointed in 2006.

“JoEtta and I became close friends through the years that we were both on the Planning Commission,” Pross said. “We shared the same commitment to our positions, always read all the materials regarding the various applications, address the questions and concerns that we may have for any application.”

Pross said she and Brown continued after the end of her time on the planning commission.

“We would enjoy lengthy phone conversations when we did not have the time to get together,” Pross said. “JoEtta just kept going with her commitment to be involved in our community. JoEtta will always have a special place in my heart.”

From Aug. 11, 2004, to December 2005, Brown wrote the My Foothill View column for The Record-Courier

She gave up the column to run for Nevada Assembly for the first time. In 2006. She also sought election to the position in 2008 and 2010.

Brown arrived in Carson Valley in 2001 after retiring after 30 years as a corporate banker.

According to her biography as executive vice president of the Alliance for Retired Americans Community Advocacy Network, when she began her career in banking there weren’t many women in management.

She found herself advocating for equal pay while working in the executive offices at American Savings Bank.

Brown was appointed to the Mayors Council under Mayor Bradley in Los Angeles where she conducted community block grant funding and urban development projects.

She has testified before the U.S. Congress regarding affordable housing and urban development and had her work in the area of affordable housing referenced in the “Lending and Diversity” handbook used in the USC School of Business Management.

Brown joined the Nevada Alliance for Retired Americans in 2007 as treasurer and the Alliance Regional Board for the Western Region in 2010 and led trainings in the western states.

Her second term expired just a few months before her death.

She also served as commissioner and chairwoman of the Nevada Commission for Women, appointed by Governor Sisolak; serving as Treasurer and frequent lecturer at St. Gall Catholic Church in Gardnerville, board member of the Nevada Family Support Council of Douglas County; and strong volunteer of the Douglas County Democrats, including running for Nevada State Assembly District 39 on two occasions and being appointed as a Nevada Democratic Elector for the 2016 and 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections.

JoEtta was predeceased by her husband James Brown and her son Kyle Brown.

She is survived by her daughters, Sharon Saikali, Angela Brown Bonifacie and Aunita Brown; her grandchildren Alexander Brown, Arlene Brown, Kyle Jr. Brown, Vernice Brown, Pascal Bonifacie and Adam Saikali; her son-in-law Nick Saikali; her brother-in-law and wife Anthony and Cin Hollins.