Ardie Browne

Ardie Browne of Montpelier went to be with the Lord April 7, 2016. Ardie lived a full and satisfying life. As a child he was an active boy scout and life guard. Once employed as a ship fitter on Staten Island, New York, Ardie went on to become a theater and choral music teacher in Smithtown, New York, the owner of Browne music and then the general manager of a chain of music stores before he went back to teaching in Levittown, New York. After moving to Virginia to escape the cold weather, he ended his vocational career raising Scottish Highland cattle. While living on Long Island, Ardie also started the Freelancers Drum and Bugle Corp and Act I Theater Workshop, a community theater. An avid sailor his entire life, Ardie continued sailing after his move to Virginia, including sailing his newly purchased ketch from Michigan to Virginia. He started the Let's Go Sailing 2 club and enjoyed many hours sailing on his boat Our Place on the Rappahannock River and on the Chesapeake Bay. Ardie celebrated his life as a devoted husband and father and as an excellent cook, gardener, and more recently Parrot head. He also shared many of his amazing talents in plumbing, electrical work, woodworking, fixing endless numbers of fences, and jerry-rigging. Interested in helping others, Ardie once served on the board of directors for the Montpelier Rescue Squad, taught reading to non-English speaking adults, and acted as a grief counselor. Predeceased by his children, Pamela Jean and Geoffrey Alan Browne, and sister Ada, he is survived by his wife, Karla Bloom; children, Art Browne, Keith Browne (Merle), Laurey Kawalek (Jeff), and Sherri Seyfert (David); grandchildren, Sean, Iain, and Christian Browne, Sophie, Madeline, and Drew Kawalek, and Matthew and Jonathan Seyfert; sister Mary Lou Henshall (Neal); and his beloved animals Paxton and Lilli and the cows. A service of remembrance will be held at his home April 23, 2016 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Ardie's name to the Evelyn D. Reinhart Guesthouse of St. Mary's Hospital, Richmond, Virginia.
This obituary was originally published in the Herald Progress.