R. Edwin Browne

R. Edwin Browne died gently and peacefully at the Shangri-La Rehab Center, Blue Springs, MO Saturday, May 22, 2010. He joins Joy Harder Browne, the love of his life and wife for 66 years who preceded him to Heaven four months earlier.
A celebration of Edwin’s life will be held Saturday, July 17th, at 2:00 at the Stone Church, 1012 Lexington Avenue in Independence. In lieu of flowers the family requests contributions to Neighborhood Councils, c/o Rixie Adams, 812 N. Union Street, Independence, MO 64050, Outreach International, P.O. Box 210, Independence, MO 64051-0210 or the Joy H. Browne Music Scholarship Fund, NKC Schools Education Foundation, 2000 NE 46th Street, KC MO, 64116.
Edwin was born August 22nd, 1917 in Kansas City, KS, the first of Ada and Roy E. Browne’s three children. He attended Argentine High School where he edited the school newspaper, which earned All American recognition. A lifelong and devoted member of the RLDS/Community of Christ church, Edwin held the office of High Priest and served as Pastor, District President and Stake Counselor. As a student at the University of Kansas in the early 1940s he was Business Manager of the University Daily Kansan and the first DJ in Lawrence at WREN. In 1946, as Public Relations Director of the University of Kansas, he commissioned Hal Sandy to draw a new Jayhawk, instructing him to make sure it had a confident smile. This is the Jayhawk of today. He was the first Public Relations Director of Graceland College in the late 1940s. Returning to KU in 1951 as Professor of Journalism and Director of Radio and Television, he put radio station KANU on the air in 1952. He bucked conventional wisdom and insisted that it be an FM station. It became the first non-commercial stereo station in the country. In the 1960s, as President of the Kansas School of Religion, Edwin provided the conceptual drawings for their new building on campus, with a burning bush stained glass window, providing light to the library and a statue of Moses kneeling beneath in the plaza outside. During the same period, architects followed his drawings for the Lawrence RLDS church, complete with a skylight to enable a shaft of sunlight to illuminate the cross. He gave the Baccalaureate address to the Lawrence High School class of 1965. Primarily due to a booklet Edwin created while serving on the Board of the National Association of Educational Broadcasters in Washington, D.C. in the 1960s, channels were reserved for public television stations across the country. From 1969 to 1975, he managed KXTR radio in Kansas City. In 1981, as President of the Neighborhood Councils in Independence, he led a delegation that successfully achieved All American City status for the city. More important than these few highlights of his career, Edwin was a man of principle who stood by his no matter the cost. He was a wonderful, caring father who taught his children by example to love and trust our Heavenly Father. He maintained a gentle, loving spirit and unique sense of humor that always shone through even during his final illness.
Edwin is survived by his sister, Elinor Stewart, of Sierra Vista, AZ; son Roy E. Browne and wife Gina, Independence, MO; daughter Ruthann Siebert and husband John; son Jim Browne and wife Donna; daughter Nancy Browne, all of Blue Springs, MO.; eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.