Obituary: Earl D. Brown - Class of 1917

Earl D. Brown Dies; Was School Principal

Earl D. Brown, 73, of 4201 Hiawatha Dr., former principal of Central Junior-Senior High School, died Tuesday (May 4, 1971) in a Madison nursing home after a long illness.

Bonr on a farm near Madison, Mr. Brown spent many years working within the Madison school system. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1921 and his master's in 1922.

He then went to Fond du Lac to teach, but after a few years decided he was too far away from Madison.

In 1925 he went to Cambridge as principal of its high school, but moved again in 1929 to Janesville where he bacame a junior-senior high vice principal.

In 1931 representatives of the Town of Nakoma asked Mr. Brown to be principal of their school, which was about to be annexed to the city. He took the post and later was transferred to East Junior High School where he also served as principal.

In 1935, Mr. Brown left East to serve as secretary to the Madison Board of Education and business manager for the city school system. He held those positions for 14 years.

In 1949 he left Madison again for California, but returned in 1950 to become principal of Central Junior'Senior High School. He retired in 1961.

Mr. Brown was a World War I veteran, and a member of the Madison, Southern Wisconsin and National Education Assns., and the Wisconsin and National Seconday Principals Assns.

He was a former director of the Madison Teachers Credit Union, and a member of the University United Methodist Church, the Kiwanis Club, the National World Federalists, Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Mu Alpha, and Sinfonia, a musical fraternity.

Mr. Brown was married in 1923 to Winifred Collier.

Surviving besides his wife, are two daughters, Mrs. Orville Lilequist, Milwaukee; and Mrs. Eugene Krist, Watertown; a son, Dr. Richard Brown, Albuquerque, N. Mex.; a brother, Harold, Volga, S.D.; and 13 grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Friday at 2 p.m. in the University United Methodist Church here, with the Rev. Robert J. Trobaugh officiating. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery.

Friends may call at the church on Friday from 1 p.m. until the time of the services.

The family said memorials may be made to the University United Methodist Church, 1127 University Ave., or to National World Federalists.


Notes: The above is from the Wednesday, May 5, 1971 Obituary Section of The Capital Times. At this time, obituaries were still news stories, written by newspaper staff, not families. The obituary was accompanied by a photo -- at that time the sign of an important or newsworthy person, not a commonplace occurrence. Unfortunately, there is an error in the second paragraph, which begins "Bonr" instead of "Born."

The class year for Earl Brown is based on information in the 1917 Tychoberahn, which lists him as a senior.