PULLMAN, Wash. — Brian “Shane” Brown, a Washington State University student from Prineville, Ore., died in a car crash Friday morning on State Route 195 north of Pullman.
Brown was turning right onto SR 195 from Armstrong Road and apparently did not see a 1999 Dodge truck passing a third southbound vehicle, according to the Washington State Patrol. The truck struck Brown’s 1988 Honda on the driver’s door. The driver of the truck, John D. Thompson, 32, of Veradale, was not injured.
Brown, a third-year student in the College of Veterinary Medicine, planned to work as veterinarian and own a large animal practice. Before attending WSU, Brown, 25, attended Central Oregon Community College and graduated from Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1998. He was part of an OSU professional curriculum that brings students to WSU for part of their training.
Linda Blythe, an associate dean of students and neurologist at OSU, described Brown as an honest, hard-working student who spent much of his free time working with animals. He was raised on a ranch and developed a love for animals at age 6.
“He was always smiling,” Blythe said. “He loved to joke around. You would always see him with a cowboy hat. He was going to be a large animal vet and in everything he did you could see that.”
Brown, an accomplished student, earned scholarships from the Oregon Cattleman’s Association, National Limousin Association and the Cenex Foundation. At OSU he earned the Lois Acheson Scholarship and the Ruth Thompson Scholarship. He received the 4-H Leadership Award and made the Dean’s List at OSU five terms.
“He was a wonderful person, just a wonderful young man who had the world at his feet,” Blythe said. “To lose him is so sad.”
