LaVerne Merkley Brown Heiden, 89, peacefully passed away on Sunday, April, 17, 2016, at Solterra Senior Living in Lakeside. A Celebration of Life will be held at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 13, at the Heward House in Holbrook. LaVerne was born Dec. 30, 1926, in Mesa to Lavern Mathias Merkley and Daisy Annie Hurley. There were eight children born to the family, but she was the only surviving girl of four. She was raised in the Valley until her junior year in high school when she moved to Pinedale and graduated from Snowflake High School. After graduation she worked at Williams Field in Mesa and was about to begin nursing school when she met her love, Felix C. “Bud” Brown, who was on leave from the Marine Corps. They were married Aug. 10, 1945, and were married for 39 years until his death. They lived in California until Bud’s discharge from the service. They then moved to Pinedale to farm. They moved to Holbrook in 1950 when Bud joined the Navajo County Sheriff’s Department. She lived in Holbrook for 60 years. The couple had two children, Fred Cecil “Charlie,” born in 1946, and Barbara Ann, born in 1954, and they helped raise their nieces, Gwen and Ann Marie Murray. Throughout their married lives, their home was also a temporary home for many children who were in need. In December 1986, LaVerne married Robert Heiden. They continued to make their home in Holbrook, but enjoyed traveling and spending the winters in Phoenix. They were married for 25 years until his death in 2011. LaVerne’s professional career began by working as a secretary at Williams Field and El Centro Marine Corps Base in California. After Bud’s discharge from the Marine Corps, she helped with farming and worked at Smith-Heywood Mercantile in Snowflake. After moving to Holbrook, she began working at the new Safeway Store on East Hopi Drive as an assistant butcher and cashier. In 1954 she was hired as the deputy school superintendent, and later became the business office manager for the Holbrook school superintendent, a responsibility she held for many years. She became the Holbrook Schools’ business manager in 1975. She had always wanted to get a college degree and decided to become a teacher beginning at the age of fifty. While still working fulltime, she graduated with her A.A. degree with the first graduating class of Northland Pioneer College, and she received her bachelor’s degree and later her master’s degree from Northern Arizona University. She taught business classes at Holbrook High School until her retirement. After retirement, she volunteered helping children in Holbrook Schools and teaching summer keyboarding classes. In addition, she taught substitute teaching classes for NPC and wrote applications for grants. She received numerous awards and honors throughout her career. LaVerne loved gardening, camping, being with family, learning and music. She played the accordion and piano at many functions throughout her life. She was a lifelong advocate of education and encouraged many to continue their education. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lavern and Daisy; her husband, Felix C. “Bud” Brown, and her second husband, Robert W. Heiden; her brothers, Alton, Darrell and John Christopher Merkley; and her sisters, Rose, Velma, and Theona Merkley. Survivors include her son, Fred C. “Charlie” Brown (Barbara); her daughter, Barbara Foree (Jack); nieces she raised like family, Ann Marie Odgers and Gwen Baxter; four grandchildren, Christopher Foree, David Foree, Frank Brown and Sherida Brown-Huggins; three sisters-in-law, Betty Merkley, Louise Smith and June Flick, and a brother-in-law, Bruce Heiden; and six great-grandchildren, Benjamin and Henry Foree, Kara Watson, Ashley Wahl, Frazier Brown and Douglas Peters.
