A celebration of life service for Caroline L. Brown, long-time Health and Well Being Director for the Marysville YMCA, was held at 2 p.m. Nov. 17 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 7215 51st Ave. NE in Marysville.

Caroline died at her home on Nov. 7, 15 months after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 60 years old.

Born on Oct. 5, 1952 in Seattle, Wa. to parents Dr. John and Florence Leakey, Caroline married her high school sweetheart, Geoffrey Brown, on June 19, 1971 in Seattle.

She graduated from Shoreline High School in 1971 and attended the University of Washington as a dance major. She also attended Cornish College of the Arts and was very active in the Seattle dance community. After starting her family, Caroline went back to school and received her associate degree in physical fitness education from Everett Community College.

In 1977, Geoff and Caroline moved to Lake Shoecraft to raise their children, Rachel, born in 1977, and Cameron, born in 1980. Caroline cherished the lake house. The land had been in the family since the 1960s.

Caroline’s love for helping people became her life’s work. With her back ground in dance and fitness she taught health and Physical Education to students at Lakewood, Everett Community College and Holy Cross High School.

Caroline started working at the Marysville YMCA in 1998 and quickly became a leader in the organization. As Health and Well Being Director for Snohomish County, Caroline’s YMCA programs included LIVESTRONG, Get Movin’, Healthy Kids Day, Get Real: Family Wellness, Actively Changing Together (ACT!), Activate America, and Exercise and Thrive, a program forcancer patients.

Caroline was a director of many boards and chaired several nonprofits, including the Ovarian and Breast Cancer Alliance of Washington, Soroptimist International, The Providence General Foundation, Providence Everett Healthcare Clinic, and Relay for Life Snohomish County.

Caroline received several awards for her dedication to the health of the community including the Rotary International Foundation Paul Harris Fellow Award, The Everett Clinic Foundation – William J. MacDonald Leadership Personal Development Fund Award in 2007 and the Galileo Award YMCA of Marysville in 2004.

It’s impossible to know how many people Caroline has positively affected over the years. She single handedly changed the landscape of the community with all of her programs and fund raising.

Caroline is survived by her husband of 41 years Geoffrey Brown, daughter Rachel and son-in-law Brian Michaels, son Cameron and daughter-in-law Katie Brown; two grand children, Cambrielle, 4, and Kylee 2; sister Karen E. Phillips, and mother-in-law Mary Brown; three nieces and nephews, Nadia, Adnan and Ramsey. Caroline was a “mom to many” and was close to so many people that she worked with. She created strong bonds mentoring other people to reach their goals.

In lieu of flowers, a tribute donation in Caroline’s name may be sent to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 204 Norwood, NJ 07648. www.tnbcfoundation.org.