LINCOLN C. BROWNELL

LINCOLN C. BROWNELL WILLISTON - Lincoln C. Brownell, of Lincoln Road, Williston, died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family on Dec. 26, aged 96. He was the son of Henry C. Brownell, UVM class of 1908, who, with his wife Jane, served 44 years as an educational missionary at Lingnan University in Guangzhou, China; later retired to Burlington. Lincoln was born in Guangzhou in 1914. He attended American community schools in China; but graduated from Burlington High School in 1931. Thereafter he attended Yale College and Yale Law; subsequently joining the New York law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell. In 1941, he volunteered for the U.S. Air Force and became a flying instructor. Following his marriage that year to Mary Hester (Gaskill) "Jerry" Brownell, they were stationed in Florida. After Pearl Harbor, he served for two years in Chongqing, China, as Air Attache in the American embassy. In the final year of the war, he served on the intelligence staff of Gen H.H. Arnold at the Pentagon; and ultimately became Colonel, USAFR. After the war, he returned to Sullivan and Cromwell and later the American Banknote Company. Growing restless, he founded, with a friend, the firm of Brownell, Lane International Ltd, to start trade between the U.S. and French Indochina. They opened an office in Saigon in 1952. Upon the death of his partner in 1961, the Brownell family moved to Saigon and lived there for the next 14 years until the communist takeover in 1975. After the fall of Saigon, Lincoln and Mary Hester retired to Williston, where they built a home on land once part of the Brownell homestead. His beloved wife predeceased him in 2007. In retirement he served as Advisory Board Chair of RSVP, Associate Trustee of St. Michael's College, Chair of the Act 250 District 4 Environmental Commission for Chittenden County, President of the Williston Historical Society, chair of the committee preserving and rebuilding the Town Hall, a trustee of Howard Human Services, and member of the Williston Town Historic Preservation Committee. With his childhood friends, Ralph Nading Hill, George E. Little Jr., and others he helped purchase and restore the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington. He was also donor of a fund to support the Williston Historical Society, to provide a permanent home for the Society in the town library, to publish Willard Sterne Randall's book, Thomas Chittenden's Town, A History of Williston, Vermont, and for the statues of Governor Thomas Chittenden now standing on the Williston town green and in Montpelier. Lincoln and Mary Hester are survived by three sons, former Mayor and State Senator, Peter and wife, Linda Brownell, of Williston, Bart and Michal Brownell of London, England, and former Chittenden Bank Vice President, Richard and wife, Susan Brownell, of Williston; and by grand- children, Lauren, Coberlin, Jameson, Alicia, Emma, Michael, Sam, James, and Kimberly; also two sisters, Priscilla Brown of Underhill Center, and Betty Jane Montgomery of South Hero, and their families. A memorial service and celebration of his life for family and friends will be held at a later date.