Robert Brown
Robert Benton Brown II died Jan. 14, 2015, in Olympia, Wash. Bob was born Dec. 31, 1922, in Sherwood, N.D., to Catherine Elizabeth “Betty” (Senner) and Ralph Benton Brown. Bob spent his boyhood in Blaine, Wash., and later Seattle.
From an early age, Bob was fascinated by flight, and, as a teenager, he won the Free Flight Model Airplane Contest — his first project in a lifetime of design.
Bob was inspired by his professors at the University of Washington, where his favorite class was 3-D geometry. Ties were close between the UW aeronautical engineering department and Boeing, and he worked college summers as a mechanic at the Renton plant.
Bob interrupted his UW studies during World War II to serve as an Army Air Force lieutenant in India, overseeing maintenance for a 100-plane fleet. He returned to Boeing and the UW after the war, graduating with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering in 1947 and earning an MS in 1950.
Boeing CEO T. A. Wilson frequently relied on Bob’s inventiveness, as he did for the B-47’s unstable pitch-up — solved by vortex generators still used on the aircraft today. Bob and his teams also made significant contributions to other foundational designs, including the 747 and 767 landing gears, one-piece rotating fuselage construction and the low-tail F-22 configuration. During his career at Boeing, Bob was awarded 10 patents.
He married fellow Roosevelt High School graduate and UW student Betty Ann Presto, in 1947. Bob and Betty raised their five children on East Hill in Kent and vacationed on Sunlight Beach, Whidbey Island, at a cabin Bob designed and built. Useless Bay was the departure point for Bob’s countless fishing trips with his good friend Bill Mayer; in 1961, they won the Boeing Fishing Derby.
In the seven years before his retirement in 1990, Bob served as Boeing’s vice president for product evaluation. He remained active in aeronautical engineering, consulting for companies worldwide, collaborating closely with his lifelong associate, John Swihart.
Bob was honored with the 1979 AIAA National Award for Design Excellence and the 1999 Aviation Week Laureate Award. In 2007, the UW Aeronautical Engineering Department honored him as Distinguished Alumnus and as one of the Diamond Award winners for “lifetime contributions to passenger jet development.”
Post-retirement, Bob and his wife Betty moved from the Seattle area to Borrego Springs, Calif. After Betty died in their 2006 car accident, Bob moved to Hoquiam, Wash., to recover. When his health was sufficiently stable, he returned to Borrego Springs to live independently until he was 90.
Even through challenging health issues, he worked at his drafting table every day. Bob lived what he believed: Design work is never finished — or final. He will be remembered for his forthrightness, strength of character, rebellious spirit, unconditional generosity and easy smile.
He was preceded in death by his son, David; his wife of 59 years, Betty; and his sister, Jean Smith. Bob is survived by his children, Karen Brown (David Wolford), Scottsdale, Ariz.; Gail Quigg (John), Hoquiam; Robert Brown, Alexandria, Va.; Russell Brown (Jan Davis), Los Altos, Calif; and five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Bob’s family is grateful for the support of Dr. Shelly Dueber, Donna and Paul Cook, and Frank and Dora Murillo.
As requested by Bob, there will be no funeral service. His family suggests memorials to St. Mary School Building Fund, 518 N. H St., Aberdeen, WA 98520, or Slab City Ministry, P.O. Box 2323, Borrego Springs, CA 92004.
