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FORT WORTH — C. Harold Brown, a Fort Worth civic leader and founder of Brown Pruitt Wambsganss Ferrill & Dean Law Firm, died Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016. Mr. Brown was 85. His family were long time Simpson County residents going back five generations.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2016 at 11:00 am at Rials Creek United Methodist Church in Mendenhall, with graveside services to follow at Rials Creek United Methodist Church cemetery. Memorials: Consideration of contributions to Rials Creek United Methodist Church, 185 Rials Creek Rd, Mendenhall, Miss. 39114, in his memory, is suggested.
Born in rural Mendenhall, Miss. on July 28, 1931, Harold was the son of Claud Solomon and Mildred Bush Brown. After the end of World War II, Brown moved to Memphis, Tenn., graduating from Central High School in 1951. As a stand-out athlete in high school, he set the Tennessee state record in the 100-meter hurdles and played on the state football championship team. He was awarded first team All-City, first team All-State and first team All-American honors, as a two-way starter both as an offensive and defensive end.
He played football at Vanderbilt University for two years before being drafted into the U.S. Army during the Korean War and served in Panama. Following his military service, he returned to Vanderbilt to play on its first bowl win in the 1955 Gator Bowl. After graduation Brown entered Vanderbilt Law School and then transferred to the University of Texas. He graduated in 1960 and started practicing law in Fort Worth. In 1963, Brown served as president of the Fort Worth Junior Bar Association.
In 1991 Brown and his son-in-law, Chris Pruitt, formed a new law firm, where he practiced until retiring in 2012. He served as a director of the Edna Gladney Home from 1963 to 1993, the National Committee for Adoption for 12 years, and the Texas Association of Licensed Children’s Services. He also served as chairman and director for the Tarrant County Convention Center of Fort Worth, chairman of the Fort Worth Civil Service Commission, director of Fort Worth Council Camp Fire Girls, chairman of the Southwestern Law Institute, and the A.J. & Jessie Duncan Foundation.
He received the Carnegie Hero Certificate in 1972 and was voted 1976 Outstanding Young Texan. He was president of Moslah Temple Shrine Patrol and a member of Royal Order of Jesters, and the Order of Constantine. He also served as a director and president of the American Brittany Club. Brown was an avid hunter. Brown is preceded in death by his parents and first wife, Carol Wynn.
Survivors: In addition to his second wife, Alicia Whitworth Brown, Harold is survived by four children, Tracey Gwen Brown, Terry and her husband, Christopher J. Pruitt, Allison “Bunny” and her husband, J. Todd Snyder and Hal and his wife, Camille; two step-sons, Mark Whitworth and his wife, Jill, and Todd Whitworth; beloved grandchildren, Mary Caroline Pruitt, Elizabeth Pruitt, Kirsten Pruitt, Colton Brown, Sarah Brown, Hallie Brown, Samantha Green, Haley Whitworth, Gavin Whitworth and Ryder Whitworth.
