Thomas McCue Brownlee

Thomas McCue (Mac) Brownlee, Ph.D., of Raleigh, N.C., a longtime advocate for people with disabilities and mental illness in North Carolina, died April 3, 2010, at University Hospital in San Antonio from injuries sustained in a traffic accident while visiting family in Texas. He was 68 years old. Mac was born in Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, Va., to Mildred McCue and John Malcolm Brownlee. He grew up on his family's farm and attended a three-classroom elementary school in Rockbridge Baths, Va. He was graduated from Lexington High School, where he was student body president. He attended Davidson College for three semesters and completed his bachelor's degree at Washington and Lee University. During high school and college, he was a distinguished long-distance runner, winning several major competitions.
Mac earned a master's degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate in political science from the University of Washington. In 1970, he joined the North Carolina State University Department of Political Science as an assistant professor and taught for three years. Beginning in 1973, he served in a number of positions in the North Carolina Department of Human Resources, including the Children's Psychiatric Institute in Butner, the North Carolina Office of State Health Planning and the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services.
In 1984, Mac joined the staff of the Governor's Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities (now Disability Rights North Carolina) and served for 17 years as a compassionate and effective advocate for persons challenged by mental or physical illness. His advocacy also took expression in his volunteer work as a board member and president of the Wake County Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and of Life Plan Trust. He had a special commitment to mental health services for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Mac retired from the Governor's Advocacy Council in 2001, but he remained active and committed to his cause. He co-founded the Peer Bridgers program, which connects former psychiatric hospital patients who have successfully returned to everyday life with newly discharged patients.
For almost 40 years, Mac was active at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. He served on various task groups, including Adult Christian Education, Liturgy Development and Visioning and the St. Mark's Vestry.
Mac Brownlee is survived by his wife, Rebecca (Becky); two sons, Christopher and Jason; daughter-in-law, Joan Asseff; granddaughter, Eleanor; brother, Malcolm and his wife, Sarah Jane; parents-in-law, Calvin and Sarah Forrester; sister-in-law, Cindy Forrester and her husband, Richard Costello; brother-in-law, Calvin Forrester and his wife, Robin; numerous nephews, nieces and cousins; and an abundance of wonderful friends.
Instead of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to St. Mark's Episcopal Church, the Wake County Chapter of NAMI or an alternative charitable organization.
A memorial service will be conducted 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church at 1725 N. New Hope Road in Raleigh, N.C. A second memorial service and burial of ashes will occur 1 p.m. on June 19, 2010, at Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Rockbridge Baths.