William “Jack” Brownlow
1933 – 2025
“Hit the Road, Jack”
William “Jack” Brownlow passed away peacefully at age 91 on March 22, 2025 in Bellevue, Washington after a valiant battle against several illnesses. He kept his keen sense of humor and glowing smile until the end.
He was born in 1933 in University City, Missouri, and lived in the St. Louis area in his early life. The family moved to a farm in the Ozarks of central Missouri, where Jack walked uphill both ways to and from school. While there, he won a bicycle race on a hilly road course in Steelville, where he powered his single-speed bike to handily beat the favored entrant who had a shiny new three-speed. He even had time to change his clothes after crossing the finish line before watching his competitor finish.
Jack and his family moved to McAllen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley, where he attended and graduated from Pharr-San Juan-Alamo (PSJA) High School in 1951. While there, he worked at the family business – Dairy King – a hamburger and ice cream store that competed with a Dairy Queen, which later became the second Whataburger in Texas. When not in school or working, Jack would drive to the levees along the southern border in the car he shared with his sister. There, he would launch the car from the levee, trying to see how much air he could get. He would also swim across the Mexican border from Hidalgo to Reynosa with his brother “because they could.”
During Jack’s senior year at PSJA, his father passed away and at his mother’s urging, he enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin. He had to suspend his studies due to finances and the Korean War, and opted to enlist in the Navy rather than being drafted. He appropriately served on the USS Missouri (BB-63, the “Mighty Mo”) at this time as a midshipman. It was his first cruise, and the next to last for the Missouri before it was decommissioned and held in reserve in Bremerton, Washington.
It was during this time that he saw a notice that he could apply and test for an ROTC scholarship which was only available to two people per state, and as he achieved the top score in Texas, he was awarded a scholarship that allowed him to return to UT, where he met his wife Toni while trying to snag a ride from Austin to San Francisco to visit his mother for Christmas. The ride almost didn’t happen because Toni thought Jack was a friend pranking her. Lucky for Jack (and the rest of us!), he finally convinced her he was just looking for his ride, his references checked out, and soon they were dating. Not even six months later, on June 1, 1957, he graduated with a degree in Physics, received his officer’s commission in the Navy, and married Toni. It was quite a busy day. Jack and Toni remained married until his recent passing. They were together over 68 years and were always very kind and loving to each other.
After graduating, Jack and Toni rapidly moved to Long Beach, California, where daughter Jackie was born, and later to Yokosuka, Japan, serving as a radio officer in the Navy on the USS St. Paul (CA-73), the flagship of the 7th fleet. He was very well respected by the Admiral as well as his shipmates, traveled the world and spent time beating everyone at chess and cribbage.
After his tour of active duty, Jack remained in the Navy reserves and took a Systems Analyst position with the Boeing Company in Seattle, where sons Paul and Pete were born. He remained at the Boeing company until 1995, when he retired. While at Boeing, he worked on a lot of things he couldn’t discuss, but things he could talk about included the first mainframe computer at the company, an autonomous people mover at West Virginia University, and projects to bring early computer networks to Boeing. He also went on an “epic pub crawl” with his boss in Brussels, Belgium. We all know how those go.
Jack loved spending time with his family, and was always fond of the water. He owned a couple of sailboats, taught us all to sail, and together we explored a large portion of Puget Sound under wind power. We learned all the rigging and physics of sailing, navigation, and anchoring (so as not to drift in the sometimes brisk current of the Sound!).
He always helped his children in their endeavors, whether in academics or their activities – primarily dance for Jackie, and soccer and hockey for Paul and Pete. This sometimes meant providing Uber services that ranged from Vancouver, BC to Portland and beyond. He always made his time available. When Paul’s soccer team needed a coach, he volunteered, went to the library to check out every book he could on the sport, and led the team to an undefeated season – a season in which the team only allowed one goal all year, in the first game that was the only tie. The team was undefeated in the two years of his tenure, with the only loss coming when he agreed to allow the assistant coach to take the helm.
This was typical of Jack in all that he did – whether in school, work, or otherwise. He showed no fear in taking on new challenges and achieving big success in anything he chose to. He always figured out how to solve problems, organize and mentor people for success, and have fun while doing it.
When his children were all launched, he had more time to spend with Toni and their friends. They traveled to Brazil, France, Mexico, and several other places, and were able to spend much more time in Kihei, Hawaii, where they have owned a condominium since 1977. He loved to walk the beach, snorkel and dive, and watch the whales. He also enjoyed looking at the night sky as he was very knowledgeable of the constellations from his time on the open ocean in the Navy.
At home, Jack had his painting studio, where he could work on his art. He also had a well outfitted wood shop (look at this tool!) where he became a very good woodworker. He liked gardening and his yard was immaculate. He also enjoyed cooking, reading, and finding his spiritual center. As he got older, he frequently told us he was “practicing slow,” which he honed to perfection.
His family continued to grow with his children’s spouses (Scott, Deirdre, and Mary Anne), and soon the house became nearly overrun at holiday time as the grandchildren started appearing. He was the kind of grandfather we could all wish for – patient, loving, and full of jokes and pranks. His six grandchildren (Amanda, Jenny, Isabel, Emily, Keenan, and Anne Marie) brought him much joy and he loved spending time with them. His six great-grandchildren (Jackson, Noah, Grayson, Beckett, Jane, and Eleanor) were happy to know him and will miss him.
Jack’s legendary Easter Egg hunts will be sadly missed. He hid plastic eggs filled with chocolate eggs all over his property, and the few prize eggs that contained cash had special iridescent stickers and were wrapped in burlap. Not wanting to wait for Easter, he would hide pennies everywhere – in our houses, in shops and department stores in malls, and anywhere else he felt he could give someone a simple, heartwarming surprise.
We are eternally grateful for the attention and loving care Jack received at Bellevue Elderly Care from Adina, Dan, and their boys; caregivers Jay and Rae, Luda and Steve; and the Providence Hospice Care Team.
His kind heart, smile, and sense of humor always made a room light up, and we’ll miss that. He set the standard by which Dad Jokes are measured.
So, Hit the Road Jack, you’ve given us lots of fuel for our own onward journeys and we’ll see you in our dreams. We’ll love you forever.
Now, as Jack would say, “you can take the rest of the day off!”
Celebration of Life
Please join us to celebrate the life of Jack/Dad/GrandPa/Gpa. We will gather together on June 19th, 11:00 am at St Madeleine Sophie, 4400 130th Pl SE, Bellevue, WA 98006.
In lieu of flowers, we ask that you please visit Veterans Legacy Memorial and share a story and/or picture of Jack.