Roll Call Tribute

Robert Burns "Bob" Brown 

March 26, 1931 - March 12, 2024 

Robert Burns “Bob” Brown, 92, peacefully left the physical world on March 12, 2024, but his loving spirit will surely live on forever through his wife Pam of 51 years, his five children, 16 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, two siblings and long list of friends and acquaintances. Looking back at his long, fruitful life, it is hard to know where to begin or which story to recount first, but impossible to argue is that Bob lived life to the fullest, fitting several lives into one singular lifetime – surely an example to us all.

Born in Alton, Illinois, in 1931, Bob moved around a bit with his parents Robert Adam and Alice Burns Brown along with brothers Bill and Tommy before landing in Bridgeton, New Jersey, where Bobby, as his siblings called him, witnessed the war effort first-hand through his parents’ position on night watch, guarding the Eastern Seaboard during WWII. One has to believe watching airplanes take off out to sea and land on the coast during this time laid the groundwork for his fascination with aviation which later formed the backbone of his professional life.

The family soon moved south to Waco, Texas, where his sister Peggy joined the team and where Bob mainly grew up, playing endless games with friends and siblings – marbles, checkers, dominoes, hopscotch, and cards — and exceling in sports – baseball, basketball, track, tennis, golf and football. In short, Bob was exceptionally coordinated, exercised great finesse and touch on the ball, easily grasped fundamentals and was quite good at pretty much every sport he tried. The post-war euphoria many of us could only later read about in books or watch in films seemed to be part of Bobby’s idyllic youth – a crowning moment coming with the good fortune of gracing the front page of the Waco Tribune as a medium-used yet speedy halfback, striking something of a Heisman pose of his own as he avoided tacklers. ALL THE WAY TO STATE IN ’48! The Waco High Tigers won it all!

After high school Bob joined the Texas A&M Aggies Corps of Cadets which helped further strengthen the strong work ethic and discipline he had learned from his parents. These were heady days for Bob, seeing that in addition to his studies and duties with the Corps, he also ran varsity track for the Aggies. It was also during these years his golf game improved enough to regularly beat his dad, his first golf coach, as Bob’s handicap dipped into the single digits. Graduating from Texas A&M University in 1953 with a degree in Industrial Engineering he immediately enlisted in the Air Force and soon married Patricia Patterson, who also hailed from Waco. While stationed in Lubbock, Texas, they welcomed their first child Rob in 1954.

Bob’s wanderlust started soon thereafter – finagling a position stationed in Hawaii, where he flew mostly B-25 bombers between “absolute paradise” as Bob referred to the Hawaiian islands and Japan. It would be conspicuous not to mention his ever-improving golf game aided by the lush golf courses in and around Honolulu. A fun fact for family and friends always remained Bob’s friendship during his service and in later years with Hawaiian traditional pop musician Don “Tiny Bubbles” Ho, a fellow Air Force pilot and renowned ukulele player. Bob and Pat welcomed their second son Kevin on the island in 1956 before soon moving back to Texas.

After completing his military service where he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant, Bob accepted a position with General Dynamics in Ft. Worth, Texas – his first “real” job – and forever loyal, one he stayed with for his entire professional career of 36 years, moving up the ladder from junior-level Industrial Engineer to Department Supervisor to ultimately Director of the Department of Industrial Engineering at what had then become Lockheed Martin.

As with every rich life journey, Bob’s had its ups and downs. Cancer took Pat in 1968, leaving Bob a single parent, and soon after that his youngest brother Tommy, with whom he was always close, in 1972. A new, beautiful chapter began as Bob and Pamela’s lives came together, joyously blending their families as one, including Tommy and Pamela’s children Tom, Laura and Jeffrey.

After a few more years in Ft. Worth, the family moved next door to “up-and-coming” Arlington in 1976, lured by its well-regarded school district and a larger family home on the canal which offered easy, immediate entertainment right in the backyard. Always up for a laugh and a mischievous bender of the rules, Bob was known to pull out a nine iron after dinner and hit shag balls down the canal as long as the coast was clear. Bob’s belief in his golf swing was only outshined by his wonderful sense of humor! Arlington was also a magnet for young families with kids and soon Bob and Pam had a wonderful network of friends which extends until today. Professionally at this time, Bob proudly watched the inaugural flight of the F-16 Fighting Falcon at Carswell Airforce Base – an aircraft Bob dedicated most of his professional career to.

As far as living a full life goes, Bob in essence took on raising a second set of children in Tom, Laura and Jeffrey – an amazing feat anyone who tried even once would attest to. Round two included the usual for many families at that time — endless practices and games for soccer, football, softball, basketball and cheerleading (Bob coached baseball and softball) as well as numerous school projects and extracurricular activities. With the Texas Rangers close by, summers included a great number of family trips to Arlington Stadium’s outfield bleachers as famous big league teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox regularly came to town while family vacations to South Padre were filled with endless shenanigans — Bob loved nothing more than to pitch a canopy early in the morning and watch the sunrise before joining his family on the beach. The winter included Spring Break trips to Colorado and Utah to ski with family and friends.

Weekends for most of Bob’s adult life meant golf outings and with them great friendships at Shady Valley, Rolling Hills and elsewhere. A lover of cars, Bob chose driving if at all possible in lieu of flying, having made long trips to upstate New York and New England and often to California and Florida. Texas Aggie and Dallas Cowboy football were religion and a loss by either team seriously jeopardized a pleasant weekend (for everyone!). All-in-all Bob knew how to have a good time and lived and breathed a work-hard-play-hard ethos.

Bob was immensely proud that so many of his children also attended Texas A&M University. A die-hard Aggie through and through, it was not unheard of for him to spontaneously drop everything and drive down for the bonfire and back to DFW in the same night, still making it to work on time the next morning! Bob truly embodied the Aggie spirit and morals to never lie, cheat or steal. He was also the bona fide Good Samaritan. Stopping off to help others in need on the side of the road was never out of the question. Bob truly cared about others and gave it his all in all aspects of life. “Doing the right thing” was much more than just a mantra, he truly lived by this creed.

Upon retirement, Bob lived the good life as an empty nester with Pam, going on golf trips sometimes back-to-back and from coast-to-coast. He was known to play hours upon hours of dominoes with his good buddy Don Henderson. And though a Texan through and through – Bob added sliced jalapenos to any dish whenever possible and loved Freddy Fender as much as he did Willie, his view of the world was much broader. He and Pam traveled for leisure constantly across North America as well as visiting Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Turkey, Mexico, and the UK, among others.

Bob beamed the brightest when speaking about his love for Pam, spinning endless tales of the joy he felt to be married to her. He needed little prompting to remind you he felt like “the luckiest guy in the world” and never shied away from corny, romantic cliches.

At the end of the day, Bob simply loved life — the good, the bad and the in between. And frankly, he saw it all and lived it all.

Hallelujah, Bob! What a gosh darn heckuva ride!

In addition to his wife Pamela Utley Brown, Bob is survived by his children Rob Brown (Judi), Kevin Brown (Linda) Tom Brown (Carla) Laura Brown Moore (Scott) and Jeffrey Brown (Andrea), his grandchildren Nichollas Brown, Joshua Brown, Klayton Brown, Lucas Brown, Shae Brown Williamson, Kevin Kees Brown, Conner Brown, Hunter Brown, Cormac Brown, Francesca Brown, Catherine Moore, Hayden Moore, Caroline Moore, Eveleigh Jennings, Quinn Jennings, his five great-grandchildren, and his siblings William E. Brown and Margaret (Peggy) Brown.

If you would prefer to make a monetary donation rather than sending flowers, please consider a donation to Arlington Urban Ministries.