William Herbert Brown, Jr.

William H Brown Jr

 William H. Brown Jr (Herbie), 84, of San Antonio, Tx passed away on 20 Jan 2024.  He was born on 24 April 1939 in San Antonio, Tx.  He is the son of William H. Brown and Claudia B Hagemann who have both preceded him in death.  

Herbie met his wife, Mary Brown, while serving as Youth Director at Town East Baptist Church.  They were married on 29 Jul 1973 and have been married for more than 50 years.

He grew up in South San and graduated from South San High School.  Herbie was saved at the age of 9 while attending South San Baptist Church. He initially attended University of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi (now TX A&M) studying speech, drama, and Bible.   During his time in the military, he attended a variety of colleges eventually acquiring his BA in Marketing from the University of Maryland Overseas Campus at Heidelburg, Germany in May 1988.    He did not give up.  

            He enlisted in the Air Force and served careers in Base Operations and Air Traffic Control. His tours of duty included:

• In San Antonio                 Kelly Field    and        Randolph AFBs 
• In other states      Shemya Alaska, Altus OK, Tinker AFB in Tulsa OK, and Langley AFB in Virginia
• Overseas             twice in Germany    Sembach, and Bitburg.
• He had a tour in Madrid, Spain as a dependent spouse.

He retired from the Air Force in 1983.

 Where ever Herbie went, Church ministry was an important part of his life assisting where ever he could to help the pastor and church. Herbie was licensed to preach and minister in the Gospel by Town East Baptist Church in 1963.  In Germany he was involved with youth at an orphanage, and in local German churches. In Spain he was assisting missionaries when ever possible. He was youth director at many churches during his assignments.   Even after moving to the Army Residence Community, (ARC), in 2013; he offered his services to Chaplain Hester by visiting in Health Care and the Oaks.   Little did he know that one day he would utilize the service of both of those units.     What did he do in his spare time?

Herbie was a car aficionado, motor cycle racer/rider, clown, and ventriloquist. He used his ventriloquism/puppets for both young and young at heart. He played the French horn, trumpet, and bass guitar from high school all the way to the Seniors of Note at the ARC.

• In Germany, he coached a German youth league basketball team, playing games with units from the base.
• Herbie had a private pilots license, and owned a Cessna 150 for a while in 1981.

After retiring, he worked in retail sales, furniture, appliances and cars. He sold cars while in Spain from a catalog. There was not a car lot at that facility.  A friend stated that “he could sell ice cubes to an Eskimo”.  He also worked for Tom Benson, Red McCombs and had his own corner used car lot in Kirby.

TSgt William H Brown Jr was a

Man of Many Faces

but what he wanted people to remember of him was   

“He Cared”.

Herbie is survived by his wife, Mary Brown; his son, Eric Brown; and grandchildren, Meredith (Sean) O’Connor, and Jason Brown.

He has one living sister, Rebecca (Oscar) Brown Soliz; and a brother, Mike (Esther) Brown.  There are many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by two older sisters, one younger sister, one younger brother, and by his youngest son Dathan Brown.