After years of working in various parts of the newspaper business, Howard J. Brown settled into a new role as publisher of the Kenosha News in 1961.
Brown had purchased what was then called the Kenosha Evening News and served as publisher for the next 40 years, putting down deep roots in Kenosha and becoming involved in all kinds of civic projects and groups.
After stepping down in 2001, he stayed involved as president of the newspaper’s parent company, United Communications Corp. He died of stomach cancer April 29, 2011, at age 87.
Born in Chicago and the son of an attorney, Brown earned degrees from Princeton University, the graduate school of journalism at Columbia University and the business school at Western Reserve University.
He served with the U.S. Army during World War II, then as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Sun-Times. He went on to work in promotions at the Cleveland Plain Dealer and News, and in administration with newspapers based in Middleton, N.Y.
More than anything, Brown believed that good newspapers made for good communities.
“It is not a business at all,” Brown liked to say. “Nor is it a way of life or even a philosophy. Newspapering, in short, is a delightful disease, the only cure for which is heavier doses of the same.”
At the office, he was usually known as “Mr. Brown.” In the community, he liked to be called “Uncle Howard,” a name spoken by many with great affection.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three daughters Lucy Minn, Sarah Russ and Amy Tuchler.
