Henry Andrew "Hal" Brown

1930 - 2022

Brown, Henry "Hal" Andrew

August 24, 1930 - October 23, 2022

Henry "Hal" Andrew Brown of Winston-Salem, NC, died on October 23, 2022 at the age of 92. Although he never held any "official" public office, he lived his life like he was running for office, saying hello to everyone he passed, introducing himself to strangers, and getting involved in projects, organizations, and activities that made life better for those around him.

He was born on August 24, 1930, in Greenville, SC. He was the first-born son of the late Henry Andrew Brown and Annette Gay Brown. He spent most of his childhood in Greenville, SC. He graduated from Greenville High School and attended N.C. State's School of Textiles. It was during his time in Raleigh that he met Patricia Tankard, who quickly became his wife. They were married more than 70 years.

After college he fought in the Korean War, not only serving honorably, but also courageously, earning a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Not long after returning to civilian life, he attended the Harvard Business School from which he graduated in 1955. A Southerner at heart, he and Pat returned to Greenville, SC with their first child, Andy, where they had two more children, Bruce and Adele, before finally settling in NC where they had Edward and George. In 1966, the family of seven moved to Winston-Salem which became Hal's adopted home.

His first love, after his family, was St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He was junior and senior warden, a member of numerous committees, and one of the founding chapter members of the Friday Morning Men's Prayer Breakfast. Beyond St. Paul's, Hal also practiced his spirituality. He attended St. Ursula's Episcopal Church on St. John, USVI where he and Pat spent large parts of their year for the past 30 years.

When he moved to Winston-Salem, he worked for Armtex, a textile company located in Pilot Mountain, NC. In 1970, he quit and started his own textile company, Adele Knits. He later bought the building at 800 Chatham Road that housed Adele Knits and started Twin City Industrial Center which later became Twin City Warehouses. Both are still family-owned and in operation today.

In addition to his business investment in Winston-Salem and the surrounding area, he was heavily involved in local non-profits. As an Eagle Scout, he carried that passion over. He became scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 910 in 1967. All four sons followed in his footsteps and became Eagle Scouts. When Hal became scoutmaster, Troop 910 had had 12 Eagles in its 50-year history. During Hal's four years, he had a hand in roughly 20 more Eagles. He's probably most remembered for his camping trip to Ravens Knob in which the Scouts had to live off the land, eating acorn pancakes and drinking pine needle tea. This was a one-time experiment.

He was on the founding committee and early president of the local Hospice now known as Trellis. In addition, he served on the board, chairman of the board, interim president for 6 months, and he and Pat became the first husband and wife team to head the annual campaign for United Way. He was honored for his community service as a torch relay bearer for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

In addition to his charitable work, he was an avid reader, crossword puzzle solver (always doing his puzzles in ink), tennis player, and dog walker. As a young father, pets weren't his thing, but he came to love his dogs, particularly his devoted Twinkle, the shih tzu canine queen of 4th Street who was loyally by his side to the very end. As he got older, he became a technology convert, although not a very skilled one. He had one of every new-fangled gizmo yet needed to call his grandsons to log on to his computer or change the channel on his television. He loved to travel, particularly with Pat. They spent their retirement both traveling and learning, going on educational cruises. They took all seven grandchildren on trips when they were 13.

He was a man of principle and remained open-minded throughout his life. While he may have fought his family about driving, he had both his knees replaced, one at 89 and another at 90, mostly to prove he could do it. His life was one of doing and respecting, one that encompassed following the Golden Rule.

Hal was predeceased by his son, George, and survived by Pat, his wife, four children (and their spouses), Andy (Margery), Bruce (Suzy), Adele (David) and Edward (Victoria). He was also predeceased by a sister, Jane Brown Wallace of Greenville, SC, and daughter-in-law, Kathryn Leinbach Brown. He had seven grandchildren and five stepgrandchildren.

A service will be held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Friday, October 28, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family hopes that donations will be made to either of two of Hal's favorite organizations: St. Paul's Episcopal Church or Read, Write, Spell or to a donation of your choosing in his name. Condolences may be made online at www.salemfh.com.

Salem Funeral & Cremation Service (Downtown)