Sandra Ellen (Bihrer) Brown

Sandra Ellen Brown, 79, passed away peacefully in a nursing home in Nampa, Idaho, on October 6, 2017, after sustaining traumatic brain injury and paralysis as a result of being hit by a car during the 2014 Nampa Fun Run.  She was sadly preceded in death in June by her husband Kenneth, who never recovered from her accident. Sandra was born on June 23, 1938, in Sac County, Iowa, to Clarence and Ella (Boom) Bihrer.  She was raised on a farm near Sac City, Iowa, where they grew corn, beans, oats, and had cattle. She began school in a one-room school house and later went to Sac City High School, where she loved to play the clarinet.  She graduated from Brandeis Business College and after college married William (Bill) Rolland Brauer in 1957.   Sandra and Bill had three children (Brenda, Gwendolyn and William (Curtis)) and moved to Las Vegas in 1963 to raise their family.  They were married until 1974.  Sandra was always interested in health and fitness, and while in Las Vegas, worked at a health spa and health food store.  Most of all, Sandra loved to run and started running in 1967 with her daughters around the elementary school yard.  She excelled from there and joined the Las Vegas Track Club in 1969 as its first woman member to run competitively.  She ran several marathons beginning in 1971, and repeatedly ran qualifying times for the Boston Marathon with a fastest time of 3:03.  She won the Las Vegas Marathon woman’s race three times.  She also ran countless 10K races and practiced yoga every day. Sandra met the love of her life, Kenneth Lloyd Brown, at Bible study while he was in the US Air Force stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas.  They married in 1982 and moved to Nampa, Idaho, shortly thereafter to be near the Brown family.  Sandra worked at K-Mart in Nampa for 27 years.  Kenneth and Sandra joined the First Nazarene Church of Nampa.  Sandra was a strong woman of faith and instilled that to everyone she knew from her family to friends and co-workers.  She loved the Lord with all her heart and always made sure that you were put on the prayer list when prayer was needed and prayed every day.  She loved to read, study the Bible (which she read over 30 times), go to garage sales, sew, garden, and travel to visit family.  

Sandra is survived by her brother Floyd Elmer (Marge) Bihrer of Sac City, IA; three children, Brenda (Dennis) Nixdorf, Sr., of Seattle, WA, Gwendolyn (Scott) Pearce, of Las Vegas, NV, and William Curtis Brauer (Rahim Panjwani) of San Diego, CA; and two stepchildren, Barbara Brown of San Antonio, TX, and Robert Brown of San Antonio, TX.  She leaves 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.  Sandra was preceded in death by both parents, Clarence and Ella (Boom) Bihrer, her brother Merle Clarence Bihrer, and husband, Kenneth Lloyd Brown.

A Funeral Service to honor and celebrate her life will be held at 11 AM on Monday, October 16, 2017 at the Nampa First Church of the Nazarene Chapel, 601 16th Ave. So. – Burial will follow at 3 PM at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, Boise. Services are under the direction of the Nampa Funeral Home, Yraguen Chapel, 415 12th Ave. So. – 208-442-8171. An online guest book is available at www.nampafuneralhome.com  

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