- Date Of Birth: October 28, 1916
- Date Of Death: November 14, 2010
- State: Maine
Bath, ME. – William “Bill” Hayes Brown, 94, of Washington Street, died Sunday, Nov. 14 at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick surrounded by devoted family members and two beloved friends following complications from a fall from his heretofore trusty battery-operated tricycle three days prior.
He was a teacher of one age group or another for 72 straight years – 41 years as an instructor of English at Phillips Academy, Andover, Ma., and for all of the 31 years of his retirement. He wrapped up his last class, “Can Poetry Save the Earth?”, just weeks ago at Midcoast Senior College in Bath. This past summer he was given the college’s first Wheeler-Thompson Founders Award for his excellence in teaching 20 great literature courses since the college’s founding.
He was born in Reading, Ma. on Oct. 28, 1916, the son of Rodney Wheeler Brown and Mabel (Hayes) Brown. He attended Reading elementary and junior high schools, received his diploma from Phillips Academy in 1934 and his B.A. from Harvard College in 1938. He started teaching at Andover that same year. Later he earned a master’s degree at the Breadloaf (Vt.) School of English. In June, 1940 at St. David’s Church in Berwyn, Pa., he was wedded to Lee Brooks, who pre-deceased him in April, 2002.
Bill Brown’s career as instructor, housemaster and coach at Andover was distinguished in diverse ways. He chaired the English Department for several years. He edited The Andover Bulletin, school alumni magazine. In the late 1970s, he launched and edited The Andover Review, A Journal for Secondary Education.
He was inducted this year into the Andover Athletics Hall of Fame for his many contributions in that arena but chiefly for starting in 1955 a crew program from scratch, begging slightly beat up shells from the Princeton, Yale and Harvard crews. The program quickly developed and rose to prominence. In 1955, following the eights’ first place at the Interscholastics on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, he and his dear colleague Simeon Hyde, retired dean of the faculty, led the oarsmen to competition in the Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames, England. At the 50th anniversary of the crew, a fund for the crew was established in his name. A bay of a new boathouse has also been named in his honor. Twenty eight years later he was instrumental in the launching of the crew program at Bowdoin College.
Bill Brown enlisted in the U.S. Army in August, 1942, was commissioned a lieutenant and discharged a captain with a Bronze Star Medal. Overseas starting in September, 1944 he served in the 3rd Corps, Signal Intelligence Co. As a “direction finding officer,” he was at the critical battle to preserve the remains of Remagen bridge in Germany from Nazi bombardment.
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