Charles C. "Chuck" Brown

Former El Paso County Commissioner and Colorado Springs City Councilman Charles C. “Chuck” Brown passed away peacefully in the early morning of Friday, April 21, 2017 surrounded by family. He was 89 years old. Brown, a 64 year resident of Colorado Springs, was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming on July 27, 1927 - the eleventh of 17 children born to Grace and Tandy Brown. He attended Central High School in Cheyenne, and shortly after graduation enlisted in the US Marine Corps and shipped off to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, North Carolina. Following a proud tradition of Marine Corps service among his brothers, Chuck served in the Pacific during the final days of World War II and then in China as Mao’s forces moved across the country during the Communist Revolution.

Brown was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps with rank of Staff Sergeant in 1949 and returned to the US to pursue his studies at Colorado State University (then known as Colorado A&M). There, he met and married Barbara Brookhart of Colorado Springs. Brown graduated in 1954 with a BS in Civil Engineering. The young couple returned to Colorado Springs after graduation, where he joined his father-in-law’s rapidly growing family business. During his 25 years at Brookhart Building Centers, he led the company as it grew from one to six locations around the state, employing over 250 people.

After leaving Brookhart Building Centers in 1983, Brown started and owned his own retail lumber and hardware business, the Calhan Lumber Company, in Calhan, Colorado and then spent nearly a decade in the commercial real estate business as a Vice President at First American Land Title and at the Hadjis Corporation.

Brown was a distinguished public servant, selflessly giving back to the community he so loved. He served 4 years as a member of the Colorado Springs City Council, and 14 years as an El Paso County Commissioner, where he was Chairman for 4 years and Vice-Chairman for two. Chuck was particularly interested in transportation issues during his tenure, and was a pioneering member of the first Rural Transportation Authority, a member of the Transportation Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties, as consultant to the Colorado State Transportation Commission. He was a founding director of the Broadmoor World Arena, and served on that organization’s board of directors for more than 20 years. He also served for many years on the City Planning Commission, the City Park and Recreation Board, the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Commission, and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Memorial Hospital. He also served as board member, chairman or president of the Pikes Peak YMCA, Colorado Springs Junior Chamber of Commerce, Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Clean Air Campaign Board, Goodwill Industries, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the Boy Scout Council, Campfire Girls Council, the 4-H Foundation and Junior Achievement. A life-long Rotarian, Chuck was a charter member of the East Side Rotary Club and also a member of the Downtown Rotary Club. In 1980, Chuck Brown was named Business Person of the Year by the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, and in 2006 received the coveted Silver Spur Award, awarded annually by the Pikes Peak Range Riders, for distinguished service to the community. In 2011, El Paso County dedicated its new infrastructure complex on the east side of Colorado Springs to him, naming it the Charles C. “Chuck” Brown Transportation and Environmental Complex.

Chuck was particularly proud of his part in helping to promote and preserve the western heritage of Colorado Springs. He made his first ride with the Pikes Peak Range Riders (co-founded by his father-in-law Kenneth Brookhart) in 1952 and became a member in 1953, where he served two terms on the organization’s Board of Directors, and as Secretary, Ride Director and President. He was a member of the Pikes Peak Range Riders for 64 years - and made 50 rides – more than any other Range Rider past or present. Brown also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and was Chairman of the rodeo’s Ramrod Committee in 1959.

He dedicated years of service to the Episcopal Church, serving on the Vestry and as Warden of St George’s Anglican Church, on the Vestry and as Senior Warden of Grace Episcopal Church, and on the founding committee and Vestry of the Church of the Holy Spirit in eastern Colorado Springs.

Chuck and Barbara Brown had three children, Ken (born 1952), Cindy (born 1954) and Ron (born 1957). Barbara died tragically at a young age, and Chuck remarried Lavena Lester, of Chickasha, Oklahoma, in 1963. They celebrated 54 years together this past February. Chuck and Lavena Brown had one daughter, Natalie (born 1969). In addition to his wife and four children and their spouses, he is survived by eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and by three of his original sixteen siblings.

Funeral services will be held at St George’s Anglican Church on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 1:30pm. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations in Chuck’s honor be made to the Pikes Peak Range Rider Foundation (www.atlatigo.com) or to St George’s Anglican Church (www.stgac.org).