It is with immense sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Raisa "Raya"(Sapozhnikov / Vetrova) Brown of N Ft. Myer's Florida due to a brain aneurysm on July 8th 2024. Raisa was born on August 13th 1969 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine to parents Roman and Valentina Sapozhnikov. Raya immigrated to America in 1993 with former husband Oleg Vetrova, her brother, sister-in-law, and loving daughter Elena Degen. In 2013, she remarried her current husband, David Brown.

Early on Raisa knew she was to be in the business of beautification, starting her career at just nineteen years old after graduating Cosmetology School in 1998 in the Ukraine. She continued to follow her passions and talent expanding to hair restoration in Massachusetts; where she trained and worked in some of the most prestigious hair salons such as Suisse and Dessange Hair Salon of Boston. Raisa traveled to Paris with Dessange Hair for further training eventually receiving recognition with countless certificates and awards for her incredible work in this field. Her talents were endless, inspiring and drawdropping which led to opportunities working with celebrities such as Steven Tyler (Aerosmith's lead singer), Yuko Shimizu (founder of Hello Kitty) as well as working with the late Barbara Kraft,(Owner of Kraft Paper and The Patriots).

Her family was her world; without question Raya put her own goals and dreams aside to relocate with her daughter in 2013 to New Jersey to help start and build a new life there. Raya and Elena were the best of friends; and some would even say partners in crime. As a single mother she made sure to raise her daughter in her light- two fierce women full of love, strength, and the ability to somehow breathe life and glitter into the dullest of parties.

There truly was no such thing as a dull moment for Raya and the snacks were always packed with the amenities ready for a day - or a week on the beach or the zoo or wherever her absolutely adoring grandchildren Natalie and Jackson's spirit's moved them. With Grandma Raya the sky was the limit. Often found busy in her craft room at 2am - love, time, and ice pops were never in short supply. With balloons and streamers, paints and more she was always coming up with fun activities, crafts and taking trips with her endlessly adoring grandchildren who are truly going to have a hole in their lives and hearts just as we do that can now only be filled with the memories she made sure to make extra special always.

There was never any doubt when she arrived as her presence and voice would fill the largest of rooms with a story to tell, while her welcoming smile and demeanor would draw you in. Raya, was one of those women you just couldn't forget. Simply crossing paths with a lasting impression was made on you one way or another. Her humor and outlook on life made her even more beautiful than her natural beauty did. She would become your best friend within minutes of meeting you and would give you all that she had. Within an hour of introductions she would be getting her comb, scissors, and mixing hair color while you're suddenly halfway through your life story with all the solutions while she started the transformation into making you the new you.

She was the one you could always turn to for advice knowing she would never judge you and would help you figure out a solution even to the toughest of situations. Raya was truly one of the most talented women you would ever meet from her skills in doing hair to her artistic abilities to turn nothing into something with a simple vision and goal in mind Raya was a sparkling light in all the lives she touched with a firm belief that there can never be too much glitter or decorating for one tabletop. The one thing Raya may not have done - was run a zoo, though at times that may have been debatable. She had a strong love and passion for animals and was one of the founders of Happy Tails Animal Rescue 501c3 and would go above and beyond to help and save as many animals' lives as she could. She was an amazing and unforgettable mother, grandmother, daughter, sister and friend. May every glitter found embedded in the carpet or on a Christmas card be a simple reminder of the extravagant love that Raya had for her family and friends.

Family and friends are welcomed to the Burke & Blackington Funeral Home in West Newton on Friday, July 19 at 12PM for a brief visitation followed by memorial service at 12:30PM. Services will conclude with a burial at The Gardens Cemetery in West Roxbury followed by a reception at The Social Restaurant in Newton beginning at 3PM.