March 12, 2009 Issue
Former Boone Mayor Wade E. Brown Dies at 101
Former Boone Mayor and business leader Wade E. Brown passed away on March 9 at the age of 101. Brown is remembered for a host of civic and community accomplishments that helped shape Boone into the town we know today. Photo courtesy of Recollections and Reflections
“He was such a force without being forceful,” said former Boone Mayor Velma Burnley about former Boone Mayor Wade Edward Brown, who passed away on March 9 at the age of 101. “I don’t know of anyone who has achieved more in their lifetime and made such a difference,” she added.
Indeed, the last century in Boone would not have been the same without the contributions of Brown, whose lifelong credits read like a laundry list of civic and community accomplishments.
A Blowing Rock native, Brown was born the youngest of 10 children on November 5, 1907. He attended Watauga County Schools before going to Mars Hill Junior College to complete high school and the first two years of college. He was accepted to Wake Forest College—now Wake Forest University—and its School of Law, and had the distinction of passing the N.C. Bar Exam in January 1930, one year before he graduated from the law school. Brown opened his law office in Boone on July 5, 1931, beginning a career that spanned more than six decades.
Organizations and communities across Western North Carolina and the state benefited from his leadership. Brown worked on and endorsed numerous projects to improve the community and to bring people and jobs to the mountains. In 1949, he was an original signatory to establish the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. He worked behind the scenes to make Horn in the West a reality and, believing that a public golf course would bring tourist dollars, he spearheaded the creation of the Boone Golf Club, which opened in 1959. Brown also worked for years to help begin and later expand the Watauga County Hospital—now Watauga Medical Center—while serving as chair of its board of trustees. After his retirement, he worked for several years as a legal advisor to ASU students.
In 1944, at the age of 37, Wade Brown was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. After the war, Brown returned to Boone to reopen his law office, which he first opened in July 1931. Photo courtesy of Recollections and Reflections.
In 1944, at the age of 37, Brown was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. After the war, Brown returned to Boone to reopen his law office. A lifelong Democrat, Brown was elected to both the N.C. Senate in 1947 and the House of Representatives in 1951. Brown served as mayor of Boone from 1961 to 1967.
Burnley knew Brown “extremely well,” she said, first meeting the man in 1950 while working as a banker at Northwestern Bank. Brown and Burnley’s daughters also attended school together.
“He is one of my favorite people. I was an admirer and friend. He was always a source of encouragement for me,” said Burnley on Wednesday. “As I left the viewing yesterday, I realized that Wade was unique in this way—he was always up on the times, ahead of his time. I was the first female mayor in this town and he was very supportive of me from the very start. He looked ahead, not behind.”
Stacy C. Eggers, Jr. of Eggers, Eggers, Eggers and Eggers Attorneys at Law worked next door to Brown for many years in downtown Boone.
“I knew him very well,” said Eggers. “He was a good citizen, good public servant that took part in the development of Boone. He was very active and respected in the community.
“He had a very pleasing personality—got along with everyone—and was a good mayor. He made many progressive moves as mayor; it was a peaceful time when he served,” continued Eggers.
Wade Brown was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Gilma Baity Brown, pictured here; and by his second wife, Euzelia Smart Brown. Brown’s survivors include three children, Margaret Rose, Wade Edward Brown, Jr. and Sarah B. Otey. Photo courtesy of Recollections and Reflections.
Brown believed strongly in education. He worked closely with his friend and mentor, Dr. B.B. Dougherty, to bring state dollars to ASU when it was small and under-appreciated, and he served on the university’s board of trustees in 1941 and 1944. In addition, Brown served on numerous committees and boards that directed the development of public schools in Watauga County. In 1993, he established the Wade E. Brown Scholarship at the Wake Forest University School of Law. Brown served several terms on the board of trustees of Wake Forest College and, in February 1999, was named a Trustee Emeritus of the university.
A dedicated member of First Baptist Church in Boone since the early 1930s, Brown was active in all phases of church life, serving as a deacon and Sunday School superintendent in addition to serving on numerous committees. Brown’s faith also compelled him to spearhead the creation of a chapel at the Watauga County prison, which opened in 1984.
Brown was inducted into the N.C. Bar Association Hall of Fame in 1992 and received the Liberty Bell Award from the Young Lawyers Division of the N.C. Bar Association in 1995. In 1997, Brown received the Alfred Adams Award for Economic Development from the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, and in 2000, the chamber renamed its community development award the Wade E. Brown Award for Community Development.
Brown’s autobiography Recollections and Reflections was released in 1997. In 1981, Brown released his first book, The Story of Golf in Boone, that chronicled the local history of Brown’s favorite pastime.
Brown’s family received friends on March 10 at Austin & Barnes Funeral Home, and a private graveside service is scheduled for this week at Woodlawn Cemetery in Blowing Rock.
Online condolences can be sent to the Brown family by clicking to www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com.
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