Remembering Bennie Brown

Local anesthesiologist honored by family, friends, community

MOSES LAKE — Martha Wong, a retired registered nurse who worked for years at Samaritan Hospital, has some fond memories of Bennie Brown. “Our eldest daughter was born blind and had to have three eye surgeries,” Wong said. “And she told me Mr. Brown was the one who made her feel safe. She was 8 years old and had to have an eye muscle repaired, and she said he held her hand and talked to her, told her everything that was going on.” Wong, 70, said her daughter, now 45, remembered Brown — who worked as a nurse and anesthesiologist at Samaritan from 1962 until his retirement in 1998— holding her hand and telling her to count down as the anesthesia took effect. “She said ‘I knew I was safe because My. Brown was taking care of me,’” Wong related. It’s not the only memory Wong has of Brown. When she was 16, and a candy striper — a volunteer nurse at Samaritan — he was there to help teach her, including letting her sit in on a gall bladder operation. “He talked me through every step of the process, and even let me help him with little tasks,” she said. “He was a good teacher. An excellent teacher with a funny sense of humor. He’d make you laugh.” Wong was only one of many people who gathered at the Moses Lake Adventist Church on Saturday, Jan. 7, to honor Bennie Brown and his life of service to the community, Brown died in November 2022 at the age of 92 at his home in Oregon, where he moved several years ago to be closer to his three daughters Daina Haas, Tammy MacPhee and Linda Brown.