Obituary of William H. Browne, Jr.

William H. Browne, Jr., age 82, of Rock Spring, GA passed away peacefully on Tuesday, April 30th. William H. Browne, Jr. was born on June 27, 1941, the oldest child of William and Carol Browne. He grew up in Upper Arlington, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Those born immediately before Pearl Harbor, as he was, were often referred to as "weather stripping" because they kept the draft away. He attended Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Grandview Heights, Ohio, with his family and joined the church at twelve. He joined the Cub Scouts and later helped start a new Boy Scout Troop in Grandview. He later achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with Gold and Bronze Palms and received the Order of the Arrow through church service. Always enjoying the outdoors, he participated in a canoe trip on the Montreal River, hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. He entered Cornell University in 1959 and graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in 1964. He initially worked at the Westinghouse Aerospace Division for three years and then joined NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. His work at Westinghouse included participation in the development of the first lunar TV used on the first moon landings and the Phantom F4 radar employed by the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He met Mary, the love of his life, at the Laurel, MD Presbyterian church in 1973 and they were married in 1976. Mary and he raised three children, John, Gary, and Kim, of whom he was very proud. He and Mary both loved the outdoors and hiked in the White Mountains, The Great Smokey Mountains, Grand Tetons, Glacier National Park, and Yosemite National Park, with the most challenging being Mount Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. He and Mary joined the Presbyterian Church of Annapolis, MD in 1996 and later became members of The Gideons International in 1998, serving in numerous camp and state-level leadership positions. He had the opportunity to travel to India with the Gideons distributing Bibles in Chennai and New Delhi. He retired from NASA in 2008, and he and Mary moved to the state of Georgia in 2017 to be closer to Gary and Kim, who had moved South. He and Mary joined the Highlands Presbyterian Church in LaFayette, GA, at that time, and he was installed as an Elder in January 2020. In addition to his parents, preceding him in death was his son, Gary Hoehn; his brother, James Browne; and daughter-in-law, Donna Hoehn. He is survived by his wife, Mary Butler Brown; his son, John Hoehn, of Glen Burnie, MD, his daughter, Kim (Timothy) Gilbert of Kingston, GA.; his siblings, "Peggy" (Margaret) Page of Bryon Center, MI; sister-in-law, Jane Browne, Williamsville, NY; grandchildren, David (Kelly) Vigil, Mary Long, Anthony (Luisa) Kruse, Arielle (Kendal) Gilbert; great-grandchildren, David "D.J" Vigil, Jr., Sherry Wells, and Ulysseus Kruse. Memorial contributions may be made to Sleep in Heavenly Peace - Lafayette, GA, at (844) 432-2337 ext. 5796 or visit shpbeds.org. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 Noon on Thursday, May 9th, 2024, at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, GA, with Pastor Robert Borger officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, May 10th, in Forest Hills Cemetery. Arrangements are by Wann Funeral & Cremation Center, at the foot of historic Lookout Mountain, St. Elmo. (423) 821-7551. Share your memories, stories, and photos at wannfuneralhome.com.