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Hank Brown – Introduction
Hank Brown is certainly a man who has used all the talents that God has given him, in a tapestry of success in his life. From working his way through college and being President of the student
body his senior year, to being a very successful Businessman, Congressman U.S. Senator, father and husband.
My relationship to Hank goes back to his Mom and my Mom being
in each other’s weddings. When hank was around 10 years of age, his older brother Harry was 15 and went hunting with his Dad one Saturday morning. As he was getting into the car, he reached over to pick up his glove which had
fallen to the driveway. He had been very careful to take the chamber from his gun and put it into his shirt pocket and when he bent over to pick up his glove, the chamber fell to the driveway and discharged the bullet that went
through his heart and killed him instantly.
His Mom and Dad got a divorce and Hank’s Mom got one of the early key positions for a woman as a national Vice President of a major oil company
headquartered on the West Coast, so she took Hank and moved to the San Francisco area where Hank finished the rest of his elementary school education.
Hank was very close to his
granddad George Hanks for whom he was named and desired to go to the University of Colorado so he could be near to his grandparents. He got a job hashing at a sorority house, and managed the other side of the duplex he was
living in to help with college expenses. He was a very fine athlete and the athletic dept. gave him some financial aid so he wrestled for the University as well.
He was a born leader and soon it
became very evident to those of us who knew him well that he was very interested in the political process and he worked his way up to being elected president of the student body his senior year of 1960-61. His undergraduate
course of studies was accounting, and for several years he spent his summers as an intern with one of the big eight accounting firms. He graduated with a degree in business and entered the law school at C.U. Having been the
captain of the debate team in high school, he continued that pursuit at C.U. which gave him an additional opportunity to do well in law school.
During his law school days, Hank spent his summers
as an intern in the office of Colorado Senator Peter Dominick and this further enabled him to heighten his interest in both the political process, as well as to convince him of the important need for getting his law degree.
Hank was a rugged individual, and when he graduated from law school in the middle 60’s he wanted to serve his country, so he went into the Navy OCS (Officers Cadet School) and got his commission as
a navy navigator. He and his plane mates were flying a mission over the Tonka Bay when his plane was shot down by enemy gun fire and Hank and one other crewman were recovered, Hank was in perfect health but the crewman suffered
severe injuries. There was no question in my mind at the time, that God was saving Hank for some very special tasks that would be revealed in the future.
When Hank returned from active duty, he
was convinced that he wanted to continue in the political process but he had also fallen in love with Nan Morrison and had married that southeastern Colorado farm girl right after he graduated from the University of Colorado
down in Springfield Colorado. One of the difficult parts of that decision was that Nan’s father was one of the leading men in the opposing political parties, and it took several years for Hank and Nan to convince her Dad of a
switch in his party affiliation.
Hank accepted a job as the assistant to the President of Monfort Meat packing company with specific responsibilities as President of the three small animal
divisions, which I might add for several years were the most profitable divisions of the entire company. Hanks’s and Nan’s first two children were twins which really had Nan down and yet she wanted to be and was very supportive
of Hank’s wanting to run for the state senate position against a 22 year incumbent. They both literally went house to house asking for support, and pulled one of the biggest upsets in Colorado’s history. They went on shortly
after having a twin boy and girl to having another girl, who was quite a young lady.
In 1980, after a tremendous contribution as a state senator from Greeley, Hank ran for and won the House of
Representatives seat in the 4th congressional district and served for 5 two
year terms accomplishing among others exciting achievements, being appointed to the powerful House Ways and Means committee. That appointment added the difficulties of making a decision to run for the soon to be vacated U.S.
Senate seat for the term beginning in 1990, and served in that office for one 6 year term.
Hank was so convinced of the importance of higher education and the need for expertise in his field, that he
spent his nights and weekends getting his masters in tax accounting degree so that he could be more knowledgeable as an effective member of the House Ways and Means committee. It was also rumored that vote after vote, Hank was
the only Congressman who had read and studied every item before it hit the floor for a vote.
Who knows where Hank could have gone in politics but God’s plan for Hank’s life soon evolved around an
opportunity to help develop a major role for the University of Denver in international trade for a couple of years before the University of Northern Colorado at Greeley, called him to be their President, a job which he holds
with distinction today.
Yes, it’s true, Hank is my longest and oldest friend, and I consider it a real privilege and honor to have him participate in this book, a great businessman, scholar,
senior statesman, loyal husband, faithful father and great man of God.
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