Henry Verne Browne

Henry Verne Browne (Buddy), age 93, a resident of Lancaster, Texas, passed away on Tuesday evening, August 13, 2013, at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. He was a loving husband, father, auto mechanic, cattle farmer, and church elder. Henry was born on June 19, 1920, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the son of Henry Verne Browne, an award-winning farmer, mechanic, and inventor, and Gertrude Vermeil Waggoner, a housewife, of Tonkawa, Oklahoma. The skills and mechanical aptitude of Henry the father were passed down to Henry the son. After the untimely death of his father, his mother married John P. White and the family moved in 1930 to the family farm in Hutchins, Texas. Henry was a 1937 graduate of Wilmer-Hutchins High School. Henry excelled in mechanical skills and baseball, playing on local baseball teams. After graduation in 1937, Henry began work as an auto mechanic at C.S. Hamilton Motor Company in Dallas, Texas, a relationship with Chrysler Corporation which continued for 50 years until his retirement in 1987. He greatly excelled at being one of the top Chrysler mechanics in Dallas. He had a tremendously loyal customer base and was the man to see if your Chrysler product needed service or repair. In 1941, seeing the war-clouds on the horizon and a draft imminent, Henry enlisted on September 4, 1941, in the United States Army Air Force. He received airplane and engine mechanics training and received specialized training on P-38 fighters from Lockheed. As an Airplane Maintenance Technician with the rank of Sergeant, he lead 3-man teams inspecting and maintaining P-38, P-40, and P-47 fighters. He participated in action in North Africa and Italy. After his tour of duty overseas was completed, he was rotated back to Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for the duration of his military service, being honorably discharged on September 5, 1945. To this day, he has marveled his listeners with the stories of his wartime experiences. After discharge, Henry moved back to Dallas and resumed work with C.S. Hamilton Motor Company. He met Mary Louise Marek on a blind date with family friends and married her on October 12, 1946, a marriage lasting 58 years until her death on April 22, 2004. Children born to this union were a daughter, Cynthia Ann (September 18, 1949 - March 3, 1995) and a son Robert Vern Browne (born February 7, 1953). On January 1, 2005, Henry married Lorine Marie Lind (Skupa) of Colorado Springs, whom he had met during the war while stationed at Peterson Field. They were married for 8 years until her death on January 2, 2013. They were a great help to each other in their later years. He greatly enjoyed farming before and after his retirement. He excelled in building, construction, and fabricating projects. In his younger days, he greatly enjoyed weekends with his wife Louise and family fishing, swimming, boating, and water skiing at the family boathouse and cabin, which he built, at Lake Whitney, Texas, and trout fishing and camping in Chalk Creek Canyon, Colorado. Henry greatly enjoyed attending all the high school band and jazz band competitions his son Robert participated in. He was a member of the First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Lancaster, Texas, serving as a Deacon, Elder, Elder Emeritus, and Board Chairman. He will be best remembered for his love of family, friends, and church, and his loving care for his dogs, cats, and Black Angus cattle herd, a herd he developed over 30 years. He is survived by his son, Robert Browne (Susie) of Midlothian, Texas; grand-daughters Jennifer Carter of Boston, Massachusetts and Hillary Carter of Fort Worth, Texas; his brother Martin’s son, nephew Dr. Lewis Browne, MD (Charlene) of Longview, Texas; nieces Carolyn (Marek) Mikel (O.D.), of Kaufman, Texas, Sandra (Brecheen) Money (Wayne), of Greenville, Texas, Pamela (Brecheen) Isom (John), of Nevada, Texas, Jo Ann (Skupa) McRobbie (David), of Grand Junction, Colorado; and nephews David Marek (Margie), of Coppell, Texas, Jerry Marek (Diana), of Mesquite, Texas. Surviving brother-in-laws include Robert Marek of Kaufman, Texas, Jerry Marek (Rose), of Kaufman, Texas, Richard Skupa (Eula), of Littleton, Colorado, Duane Skupa (Carolyn), of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Ronald Skupa (Val), of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is survived by sister-in-law Louise Marek of Kaufman, Texas. Henry is also survived by several great-nephews and great-nieces. Henry was predeceased by his daughter, Cynthia Ann Browne, brother-in-law, J. Lewis Harrison, sister, Helen (Browne) Harrison, wife, Mary Louise (Marek) Browne, brother, Martin Browne, sister-in-law, Mary Browne, sister-in-law, Evelyn (Marek) Brecheen, brother-in-law Frank Brecheen, nephew, Byron Browne, brother-in-law Albert Marek, wife, Lorine Marie (Skupa) Browne, and brother-in-law Doyle Skupa, Memorials in Henry’s name may be made to The First Christian Church, 750 West Main, Lancaster, Texas 75146.

Henry Verne Browne

June 19, 1920 - August 13, 2013