Pia Agneta Tollo Brown

Pia Agneta Tollo Brown, retired librarian and devoted wife, mother and grandmother, passed away suddenly when she experienced a cardiac event while swimming in the Bahamas on Friday, December 20. The day before, she had celebrated her 80th birthday on a cruise ship travelling from San Juan to Nassau. 

Pia was born December 19, 1944 in Eksjö, Sweden, the daughter of Karl Torsten and Elvy Linnea Andersson. The family later changed their last name from Andersson to Tollö, to escape the confusion of widespread name duplication in Sweden. 

In the mid-1950s, the family relocated to California so Pia’s father, an aeronautical engineer, could work for a few years in the burgeoning post-war aerospace industry. They loved California so much that they stayed there for over 30 years. 

Pia graduated from Awalt High School in Los Altos, California and then studied liberal arts and humanities at Foothill Junior College. She transferred to the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she received a degree in English literature and history. 

She went on to earn a master’s degree in library and information sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. She then spent 11 years as a reference librarian at Oregon State University in Corvallis, with responsibility for the philosophy and religion collections, and earned a second master’s degree in resource geography from Oregon State along the way. 

It was in Corvallis that Pia met and married Randy Brown. They would have celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary on December 30, 2024.

In 1980, they moved to Gainesville, Florida, where Pia soon gave birth to daughter Linnea. Over the ensuing decades, Pia adored spending time with her daughter and grandchildren.

Pia worked a variety of library jobs during the family’s time in Florida, including stints with the University of Florida and at P.K. Young Developmental Research School in Gainesville. She finished her career as a reference librarian at Marion County Public Library in Ocala, Florida. In retirement, Pia served as a volunteer at the Marion County Museum of History and Archeology. 

Pia is survived by husband Randall “Randy” Brown of Ocala; daughter Linnea Bailey, son-in-law Jesse Bailey and grandchildren Evelina, Elinora and Alden Bailey, of West Palm Beach; sister-in-law Faye Steuer of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; and many beloved cousins in the U.S. and Sweden. She also leaves behind many other friends, loved ones and neighbors, young and old, who benefited from her compassion, kindness and the pleasure of her company. 

A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Instead of flowers, those who wish to make a charitable contribution in Pia’s memory might want to consider the Alachua Conservation Trust (https://www.alachuaconservationtrust.org/donate). 

Arrangements are by Countryside Funeral Home in Anthony, Florida.