William Conner Brower

BROWER, William Conner of Allen, born July 14, 1921, passed away July 16, 2008. Survived by wife of 64 years, Kathryn Brower; daughter, Eileen Chandler; daughter, Kathy Cano; son, Stephen Brower & wife, Sheryl; daughter, Maureen Fisk & Phil; daughter, Kim Peter & husband, Dan; grandchildren, Brian & Todd Chandler, Kevin Zamporini, Amiee Sorley, Shawn & Andrew Brower, Tamara McCreary & Michael Fisk, Katy Fisk, Ashley & Kenneth Peter; brothers, George Brower, Richard Brower; many other loving family and friends. Service will be 4:00PM Saturday July 19, 2008 at New Hope Funeral Home. Family will receive friends at the funeral home Friday evening from 6:00PM to 8:00PM. Tribute to William C. Brower written by Maureen B. Fisk, his daughter. this is Dad's " I REMEMBER". Dad lived a happy and full life, born July 14th, 1921 and somehow knew this year on his 87th birthday it would be his last....and he told me "no big party this year".....Well today we are celebrating with sadness and joy his life. Dad grew up during the Depression with his brothers, Richard and George. They were typical rascals, proud of the pranks they carried out but never really hurting anyone all in good fun.Dad being the oldest graduated from high school and went on to graduate from LeHigh University in just a few years with honors as he was a member of MENSA. In 1941 he met his wife of 64 years, Kathryn E. Hentz on a blind date during his Sophomore year. But then the war came and he joined the Army and attended officers Candidate School to become a Second Lieutenant. After being given his first assignment he went AWOL on the day of special training to be with his "Katie", and for punishment was taken out of the OCS class which probably saved his life. That unit went to Normandy and he went to Electronics Training at Harvard and MIT in Boston to learn the SCR-584 Radar tracking. His two years in Paris and Europe were good memories because of his ability to have a good time. He was a Radar Officer assigned to the Signal Corp. New Equipment Introduction Division attached to the Air Force Ninth Tactical Air Command. These P-38 Lightning Fighter Bombers carried 2000 lb bombs between the fuselage. His radar tracked the enemy planes and fed the info to the anit aircraft. Dad kept the radar running and all the vaccuum diodes, klyptrons and microwave magnetrons to power the big dish on top which is the technology behind the microwave ovens we enjoy today. In December 1944 his unit moved out quickly ahead of the German Panzer atttack heading his way in the path of the Battle of the Bulge. Admist all the danger, miserable cold and fear, he managed to enjoy the turkey dinner flown over from America while being so close to the front lines. He captured and evaluated German equipment as part of the French unit of IBM and scrounged around parts to develop a radar mortar locator. Promoted to First Lietenant whiile in Paris, he soon got released of duty and sailed back to America to meet back up with Katie to start their life together. Married on April 22, 1944, they lived in Boston, NYC, and then back to Allentown, PA. All the while he continued training in electrical engineering working for Western Electric and then eventually Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. Dad always enjoyed music; clasical, popular, jazz and even built his own amplifiers, tuners and speakers so he and mom could enjoy wild times with all their friends. He and mom were quite the 'swingers', dad was a ladies man...always willing to point out and enjoy a beautiful lady. They moved to Dallas around 1955 hauling allfive of us where at TI he served them over 25years building semi conductor transistors that the Defense Dept used in our missles. Dad and mom lived at 507 Dublin Drive and and as usual always had great firends, Marnie and Bill Fackler and were active in the Richardson Players. Dad of course built all the stage lighting and created the sound system. Now there were two things he always had: a camera to photograph all thos bright spiders, bugs, flowers and birds and, rose gardens. He cherished his roses and found great peace and tranquility in his garden. His yard was his haven and some of my fondest memories are sitting in his backyard, watching Chloe his favorite cat try to escape and then trick her back in the house where Murray cat was, who was his best friend. Dad was talented...he loved modern, 'retro', cool, smooth lines, geometric, all of his decor was way ahead of the times, and mom and dad's homes were 'picture book' cool . He wanted you to come into his home and enjoy the art, his creations, his wooden ships, model airplanes, paintings he did , or of famous artists, and of course, his jewelry. He started jewelry making back in high school and then learned to cast, cut and polishe stones, deal with the best suppliers of gold and gems and now all of us are wearing some piece of personal jewelry he designed, cast and made today. Wetold him he didnt charge nearly enough for these treasures. His treasures are everywhere with all of us today, his fine furniture, the wooden picture he made of a jacket zipper, absolutely ingenius, the Titanic ship, the model GTO,...i could go on forever...but he is everywhere with us. In his eighties, Dad these last few years lived with the sadness of going deaf and not being able to hear the symphonies he loved. (I remember putting on ballet shoes on Sundays while he was building something and 'tutuing' around the house..my fondest memory), He loved the Big Bands that he and mom danced to, he loved all kinds of music and he loved to talk....that all started fading from his life while going deaf. He became so frustrated when he started losing the ability to create, the stamina to build, the eyes to read....he was beyond consolation when he could no longer enjoy his afternoon beer and pretzels, of which we all got to share so many times.So, I say goodbye to Dad today, we say goodbye to Dad, my heart is comforted by what he has given to me, his legacy lives on in all of us, his children, his grandchilren and the friends he shared his life with. Muareen