Maribeth Miller Browne passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 18, 2025, at Kobacker House in Columbus, Ohio. On Thursday evening before her passing, her entire family gathered around her, and the room was filled with love and peace. Her husband fell asleep holding her hand, and she slipped away quietly before midnight—surrounded by love, comfort, and care.

Maribeth faced large B-cell plasmablastic lymphoma with courage and resolve. In her final weeks, her fight was reignited with the news that her family would be growing in early 2026 with the addition of her second grandchild. Though the illness ultimately claimed her life, hope never left her, and it spoke to the deep devotion she carried for her family until the very end.

Born in Connecticut, on November 6, 1960, Maribeth spent part of her childhood in Rochester, New York, before eventually making her way to Marietta, Ohio—where her roots ran deep and where she truly found home. When her family first moved to Marietta in 1968, they lived for several months at The Lafayette Hotel while searching for a permanent home. During that time, the restaurant staff there lovingly made her lunches for school, a small kindness she remembered fondly.

Maribeth was the eldest daughter of five children and carried that role with strength and responsibility. She was preceded in death by her father, John Miller—who co-founded the Marietta Girls Youth Basketball League in 1973; her mother, Carol Miller—who played a pivotal role in bringing Montessori education to St. Mary’s School in Marietta; and her beloved sister, Laura Jeanne Miller. Surviving siblings are Andrew Miller, Susan Baker, and David Miller.

Maribeth shared a devoted and enduring 39-year marriage with her husband, David Browne, whom she married on October 11, 1986. The two met while working summer jobs at Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH in 1980 between college years at Bowling Green State University. Maribeth had never been to Cedar Point and only attended the on-campus interviews after tagging along with her sorority sisters—she was the only one not hoping to get a job. True to form, she was the only one who received an offer, a testament to her bubbly personality and unmistakable can-do spirit. Cedar Point would remain a meaningful place throughout their lives. Maribeth and David later enjoyed many summer trips there with their children, and both Kyle and Abby would go on to work there themselves during summers of their college years. Cedar Point will always hold a special place in the Browne family’s heart.

A devout Catholic, Maribeth’s faith was a guiding force throughout her life. She was a longtime and dedicated member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Marietta and often attended multiple services each week, both there and at other parishes in the area. Her days were frequently accompanied by the sound of EWTN radio, which she listened to faithfully and drew comfort from. Her belief was not only practiced, but lived—through kindness, service, perseverance, and love.

Chances are, if you’ve walked through downtown Marietta, you’ve met Maribeth. Some people lovingly called her “Maribeth of Marietta.” She was known for her warmth, excitement, and the way she made people feel seen and cared for without asking for recognition in return. Maribeth was a great friend, especially to those who needed one, and dedicated much of her life to caring deeply for those who were lonely.

Maribeth is survived by her devoted husband, David Browne, and the family she cherished so deeply: her children – Chelsea Browne (fiancé, Kyle Boker); Kyle Browne; and Abby Browne (partner, Caleb Brown). She adored her granddaughter, Alessandra “Ali” Browne, and was joyfully anticipating the arrival of her second grandchild, a grandson, in 2026.

Arrangements for visitation at Cawley & Peoples Funeral Home, as well as a Mass at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, will be scheduled for early 2026.

The family wishes to express profound gratitude to the staff at Kobacker House. Their compassion, professionalism, and humanity made an immeasurable difference, providing comfort not only to Maribeth, but to all who loved her during her final days.

Maribeth’s legacy lives on in her family, in the countless lives she touched, and in the enduring kindness and exuberant zest for life she carried with her everywhere she went.

CAWLEY & PEOPLES FUNERAL HOME OF MARIETTA is honored to serve the Browne family and offers online condolences as well as many other resources by visiting www.CawleyandPeoples.com or by following their Facebook page.

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Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is supportive of D.K. Metcalf after the receiver received a two-game suspension but said he doesn’t condone his actions during Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Metcalf was punished by the league after swiping at a fan in the stands in Detroit in the second quarter of the Steelers’ 29-24 victory over the Lions. The NFL said the suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the league.”

“He did explain to me why he did what he did, and I certainly don’t condone the behavior, but I support D.K.,” Tomlin said during a press conference on Tuesday. “And I really don’t have a lot to add other than what I just told you.”

Metcalf reported this same fan to security last season when he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks. He was scheduled to have an appeals hearing on Tuesday, according to Tomlin.

“I certainly don’t want to weigh in prior to that,” said Tomlin, “and certainly I’ve heard more recently that there might be legal ramifications, and so I better be careful about what I say and how I say it. I’m sure you guys got a lot of questions. I understand that, but that’s just a posture I’m in as I sit here today with so many components of this thing yet to be resolved.”

Metcalf was spotted talking to the fan, who was sporting a blue wig and hanging over the first-row railing. The two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver grabbed the man by his shirt to move him closer before throwing a right hand toward the fan’s face.

Metcalf did not appear to make much contact with the fan, who threw his hands up in a defensive posture.

Tomlin also touched on this era’s dynamic of rowdy sporting environments.

“You know, I just think volatile rhetoric is a component of our business today, unfortunately,” Tomlin said. “It just is. But not only our business — college, youth-sport parents. … I think it’s just a component of sport that’s developed and developed in a big way in recent years, and it’s unfortunate. But, really, I have nothing to say about the matter other than that.”

Metcalf, 28, has 59 catches for 850 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games during his first season with the Steelers. He also has two carries for 12 yards and a score.

A second-round pick of Seattle in the 2019 NFL Draft, Metcalf has 497 catches for 7,174 yards and 54 touchdowns in 112 career games with the Seahawks and Steelers.

The Scotts Valley girls’ basketball team remains undefeated following a crushing 74-16 victory over Monte Vista Christian in non-league play on Dec. 19.

Seniors Sammy Rebbert and Brooklyn Williams each finished with a game-best 17 points for the Falcons, who improved to a 9-0 overall record for the 2025-26 winter campaign.

“The kids are playing good together,” Scotts Valley head coach Stu Hurvitz said. “They’ve been playing together for three years, they really know where to go and they know the offense. And I think playing good defense has been critical.”

Scotts Valley returned a majority of last year’s Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League champion squad, including Rebbert, Williams, senior Amaya Guerra and junior Hanna Shehorn.

Shehorn leads the team in scoring with an average of 14.4 points per game to go along with 2.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds per contest, according to statistics on the Max Preps website.

Rebbert has also been consistent this season with an average of 11.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and a remarkable 5.8 steals per game. Williams is tallying 8.8 points per game, while Guerra is contributing roughly four points per contest.

“We’re playing really good, complimentary basketball,” Hurvitz said.

Scotts Valley also has some new faces on the court, such as freshman sensation Isabelle Jas, who is producing an astonishing average of 14 points and 16.9 rebounds per contest, according to statistics.

Jas trained with renowned youth basketball coach Daniel Kumasaka—founder of Courtical Hoops training program in Santa Cruz.

“[Jas] knows how to play inside, she’s a good passer and I think [teammates have] been able to develop confidence in each other, them giving the ball to her knowing that she’s going to do something with it, and she’s also going to give it back,” Hurvitz said. “I think she’s just going to get stronger and stronger as she gets more comfortable playing high school varsity basketball.” 

Other Falcon players making an impact include freshmen Lyla Rebbert, Mikki Aribbas, Skylar Cloyd and Ada Tanner, and Lali Estrada-Fuentes. 

Scotts Valley seems to be on pace for a second consecutive SCCAL title run. They won the King’s Academy Tournament for the first time in three tries, beating such formidable opponents as Cupertino, Fremont and Gunn.

“This tournament’s usually one of our biggest tests in an early season for us,” Hurvitz said. “This time, I think we were ready to play.”

Shehorn and Jas each tallied 19 points in the Falcons’ 52-21 victory over Gunn on Dec. 13. Guerra added five points, while Rebbert added four points.

Rebbert had a game-best 15 points in Scotts Valley’s 45-30 win against Fremont on Dec. 12. Shehorn and Jas each contributed 10 points.

Rebbert was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while Shehorn and Jas each earned all-tournament team honors.

“I think they’re stronger players this year,” Hurvitz said. “They trust each other and you can see it on the court.”

Scotts Valley will go on a short break before returning to the hardwood court against Los Altos and Mills on Jan. 3 and 6, respectively, in non-league action. They will also play Monta Vista of Cupertino on Jan. 17 to close out the remaining portion of the non-league schedule.

The Falcons will host Soquel in the teams’ SCCAL opener scheduled for Jan. 9 at 7pm. The rest of the league includes Aptos, Harbor, San Lorenzo Valley and Santa Cruz.

“We gotta keep playing hard, and we have some good games coming up,” Hurvitz said. “I’m hoping that we’re firing on all cylinders.”

On the opening night of high school basketball at Fairfield High School on Dec. 16 the officials for the evening were introduced and thanked for their contribution to the game along with the Fairfield students who have worked hard to become officials.

Seniors Deron Lear, Travis Cartwright and Reed Von Stein were present for the introductions and also named but not present were freshmen Cameron Keel Ryan, Mathison and Beckett Rau.

The six Fairfield boys began in the 127 Sports Intensity Junior Referee program. Today, as registered members of the Montana Officials Association (MOA), they are working junior high school games and assorted youth basketball games, while still walking the same hallways as the students they officiate.

According to Mike Schmidt, coordinator 127 Sports Intensity Junior Referee program, individually the boys are teenagers, but collectively, they are something far rarer, a homegrown officiating crew that has quietly become one of the Fairfield Basketball Club’s most important assets.

Schmidt said it has been a long road from first whistle to varsity floor and none of this happened by accident.

“These six officials started where nearly every official dream of never returning, elementary and middle school gyms,” Schmidt said. “They learned to blow the whistle with conviction in front of parents sitting 10 feet away. They figured out how to explain calls to kids still learning to dribble. They worked youth tournaments when the rest of their friends were just watching from the bleachers.”

Schmidt said over time, game by game, they logged a large number of assignments across Youth and Fairfield Basketball Club games, junior high schedules, weekend and holiday tournaments and summer league and camp games.

“Most people see one game at a time,” Schmidt said. “These six see a season as a stack of opportunities to improve. They have spent evenings and Saturdays in gyms from Fairfield to neighboring communities, not for highlight reels, but for the quiet satisfaction of getting the game right.”

The Junior Referee program gave them a runway of clinics on mechanics and positioning, instruction on signals and rules, guidance on how to handle coaches and game situations with composure, Schmidt said. But they didn’t stop at “good enough for youth ball.” According to Schmidt the six sought out more feedback, instruction and accountability.

Each of these officials has been evaluated by college-level evaluators, people who work regularly with officials well beyond the high school ranks. “Those evaluations have done more than check a box, they have confirmed what some Fairfield fans have already seen from the bleachers,” Schmidt noted. “The boys move with purpose and proper mechanics, they communicate clearly and respectfully with coaches and players, they adjust when they receive feedback, rather than defending bad habits, they carry themselves like professionals in a place that is not always friendly to officials.”

“To be a teenager and willingly invite that level of scrutiny is unusual,” Schmidt said. “To respond to it by earning MOA status is impressive. It signals that if any of them choose to pursue officiating at higher levels, they already understand what the profession demands.”

Schmidt noted across Montana — and the country — the story is the same of not enough officials. Often it is reported games are rescheduled, junior varsity contests are shortened and assignors spend long nights begging for one more crew to cover one more gym.

“127 Sports Intensity has chosen a different response, to grow its own,” Schmidt said. These six MOA officials are a direct result of that decision, he added. The impact is felt every week:

•Games get covered. With a larger, local pool of trained officials, Fairfield Schools and the Fairfield Basketball Club are better positioned to keep schedules intact.

•Expectations stay consistent. Officials who have grown up in the system understand local standards, rivalries, and what Fairfield basketball means to the community.

•Younger athletes see a new path. When a fifth grader watches a high school student officiate, the message is simple: this is something I could do, too.

•In an era where the question is often “Where will we find officials?” Fairfield can answer, at least in part, “We are developing them right here.”

The Fairfield boys have found it more than a side job, Schmidt said. “Yes, officiating pays and for teenagers it is a better-than-average way to earn money,” he said. But framing it only as a side job undersells what is actually happening. “By stepping onto the floor in stripes, Deron Lear, Travis Cartwright, Reed Von Stein, Cameron Keel, Ryan Mathison, and Beckett Rau are learning high-level, real-world skills long before many of their peers:

According to Schmidt, if high school sports want a sustainable future, then communities will need more than short-term fixes and recruitment slogans. “They will need pipelines — programs that introduce officiating early, train young people well, give them real experience, and then guide them into associations like the MOA,” he said.

Schmidt said the story does not end with the six MOA officials. Behind them stands a growing group of Junior Referee clinic graduates.

These are the Junior Referee participants from last year: Kohl Barnett, Kyla Cooley, Eli Cowgill, Willa Cowgill, Colton Dahl, Conley Dahl, Kingston Egbert, Natalie Harrell, Grace Helmer, Paige Helmer, Kale Hinderager, Nora Hinderager, Bryce Hooper, Cameron Keel, Madison Keel, Edan Keller, Eve Keller, Angus Lidstrom, Ryan Mathison, Easton Misner, Brynn Neuman, Aundra Passmore, Charlotte Pearson, Jack Rasmussen, Natalie Rasmussen, Beckett Rau, Calder Rosenkrance, Carsten Rosenkrance, Brendon Schenk, Rhett Von Stein, Gretta Wilson and Samuel Woodhouse.