Obituary of Allen Gray Browne

Allen Gray Browne died April 23, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV. He was born in Los Angeles on September 25, 1928 to Dr. Francis E. Browne, famously known as the surgeon to the stars, and Margaret Gray Browne of the Gray banking and farming family from Grayville, IL. Browne was educated at Hotchkiss Preparatory School in Connecticut and Santa Clara University. He did graduate work at UCLA Medical School. Browne had a varied career including investments and stocks, oil drilling, land development, hands-on custom house building, and farming. After active duty in the U.S. Army, he served in undercover military intelligence for years. His life-long passion for music led him to donate the organ for The Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer in Las Vegas. His family helped found Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, CA where he gave the organ for their new college chapel last year. He was an active trustee of the Nevada Symphony in Las Vegas, single-handedly producing their concert in March 1996. Browne was also an enthusiastic amateur violinist. An avid sailor and skier, he traveled the world as a big game hunter. His trophies are in several schools and museums including the Las Vegas Natural History Museum. He is survived by: his wife of 24 years, Kay Miller Browne; his brother Dr. Lawrence W. Browne, of Newport Beach; five children: Frank Browne, Julia Browne, Margaret Browne Day (Jeff), Alice Browne, Bill Browne, and their mother Shirley Ingman Browne, all of Orange County CA; and two stepchildren: Elizabeth Stephenson Norheim (Rob) of Seattle, and Lloyd Stephenson, of Chico, CA. His grandchildren include Joshua Browne, Megane Browne, Riley and Tatum Browne, Aubrie, Kelsey, and Jessica Day, and Rosemary Norheim. He was a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. A funeral mass will be held at Holy Angels Catholic Church in New Harmony, Indiana on Monday, May 3, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. (CDT). The Rev. Stephen P. Lintzenich will preside. Internment will follow at the Gray Family Cemetery in Grayville, Illinois. A memorial celebration will be held at 4:00 PM on Saturday May 22, 2010 at the Spanish Trails Country Club, in Las Vegas. Donations can be sent to Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, 1501 Las Vegas Blvd. North, Las Vegas, NV 89101; (702) 385-2662.