Longtime pianist Joanne Brown playing her final notes in Spokane

The majestic notes of the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy” soared Thursday afternoon through the sanctuary of Moran United Methodist Church .

At the piano, Joanne Brown deftly moved into “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

Her eyes weren’t closed, but they well could have been. She’s played those songs in this building for more than 75 years.

“I started playing for Sunday School at 10,” she said. “At 11, I started playing for the Sunday service.”

This even though Brown has never had a piano lesson.

“My mom played only the black keys, and she only knew two songs,” she recalled.

But every month, her older sister would bring home the Hit Parader magazine. She’d sit on the sofa, thumb through the magazine and sing the songs.

“She had a lovely voice,” Brown said. “I felt the notes and played by ear.”

At some point, a neighbor girl shared her beginning piano book with her, and Brown quickly learned to read music.

Her history with the church goes back even further than her accompanist days. She attended school in the building through the fifth grade.

“When I was 5, the school burned down, and the church welcomed the students,” she said. “We went here till the new school was finished.”

Brown played for the Lewis and Clark choir throughout high school. A year after she graduated, she married.

“I married Don, the love of my life,” she said. “We started D&J Landscaping.”

They endured the loss of their first child, a son, who died at 8 months, and together they welcomed three daughters.

“All three of my girls play, and they sing,” Brown said.

After 42 years of marriage, her husband died from a rare cancer that lodged in his brain stem.

Brown married twice more and was widowed both times.

Music became her refuge and her ministry.

“It’s something I’ve always loved,” she said.

Moran United Methodist Church is far from the only place that’s benefited from Brown’s talent.

“I played for the Spokane Melody Singers for 25 years, for the Senior Serenaders 25 years, and for 20 years I played in the lobby at Sacred Heart every Wednesday,” she said.

And she’s played for countless funerals, weddings and special occasions.

She said she most enjoys performing certain kinds of jazz and loves playing gospel music that’s jazzy.

Her musical gifts are given freely: She’s never been paid for her services.

“I love what I’m doing,” Brown said. “If I didn’t love it, you couldn’t pay me enough.”

Every Sunday, she plays for the 10:30 service at Moran United Methodist and then at 1 p.m. she plays for the service at South Hill Village where she lives.

But change is in the air. In August, Brown will move to Tri-Cities to be closer to family.

“It’s time,” she said.

She’s never lived more than 2 miles from the home in which she was born, so the move is momentous.

“It will be a big adventure,” she said. “I’ve been so lucky to be able to stay where I grew up.”

When asked what she was going to miss most, Brown glanced around the church sanctuary that she’s filled with music for 75-plus years.

Sunlight streamed through the painted glass windows, warming the piano’s ivory keys.

“This place,” she said. “The people change, but the place doesn’t.”