In memory of Thomas H. Brownell

In memory of Thomas H. Brownell

Thomas Heath Brownell died on May 2, 2009 of complications arising from Multiple Systems Atrophy, a rare neurological disease akin to Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig's disease.
The “graduation” service will be held in Montague, Michigan on Sunday July 19th, 2009. He was born in Syracuse, New York on June 6, 1941 to Wayne J. and Margaret Leslie Brownell. He is named after the original Brownell ancestor in North America, who arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony on the ship “Whale” in 1638. Thomas was raised in the fruit-farming region along Lake Ontario. He was graduated from Dartmouth College and Ohio University. Before pursuing his career as a technical writer and teacher, he was employed by Pan American World Airways on the Atlantic Guided Missile Test Range in the Bahamas, at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont and by NCR Corporation in Cambridge, Ohio. His education took him through sojourns in law and history, but his true interest was writing. He authored 18 books, mainly on automotive topics, and taught: technical writing, automotive management, and journalism as a tenured full professor at Ferris State University in Michigan. For over twenty-five years Brownell wrote the “Questions & Answers” column for Old Cars Weekly magazine. He was founding editor of Vintage Truck magazine, and a syndicated columnist for Motor News Media. His writing received awards from the International Automotive Media Association. Tom met and married Joyce Tarrier while teaching in Vermont. They have two sons, Nathan and Anthony. He was preceded in passing from this life by his sister Nance Neureuter, of Lancaster Pennsylvania. He is survived by his loving wife of thirty-nine years, their sons and daughters-in-law, four grandchildren, and sister, Ann Kulik of Omaha, Nebraska. A physically active person for much of his life (at Ferris he was known as the professor with the automotive passion who always rode a bike), summers he hiked the White Mountains of New Hampshire and he had once skied the challenging Tuckerman’s Ravine headwall on Mt. Washington.

Tom spent two summer sabbaticals as a missionary teacher in Eastern Europe at Bible colleges in Romania and Bulgaria. He expressed great joy at having been able to offer his academic expertise to help those schools attain their accreditation. During the last five years, Tom contended valiantly against Multiple Systems Atrophy. In the midst of his suffering he said, "A God who can fashion a rose is certainly capable of making a 'hereafter' beyond our wildest dreams." He passed on in peace listening to his favorite music, “In Tine este viata mea” which is a Romanian praise song. (Sung and recored by Ica Aurica Gergele with her fiancé on keyboard).

Tom Brownell belonged to Ferry Memorial Reformed Church. Gifts in his memory can be made to the Ferry Memorial Reformed Church, Old Channel Trail, Montague Michigan.
http://churches.rca.org/ferry/index.html

photo by Paul Kulik (nephew)