WHEATLAND — His wife Katie characterizes him as a “people person.”
The former University of Wyoming Homecoming Queen became sold on the future entrepreneur more than 65 years ago when they went on a “Coke date.”
During his nearly 90 years, C.H. “Chuck” Brown III has dedicated himself to his family, cared for customers and clients in several businesses, sacrificed time and talent as a public servant for his community and state, and advocated for the West on a Federal Reserve Bank board.
But the story that lights him up as he looks back on his life is about a recent visitor to his office in downtown Wheatland.
“I served on a Christian youth camp board in Glendo for 25 years and a young man stopped in yesterday and said, ‘I don’t know if you remember me,’” Brown recalled. “And I said, ‘Well of course I do. And you know, those are meaningful things.”
Reconnecting with that former kid, now an adult, is special to the man who carries his cellphone in a monogrammed shirt and wears a yellow bandana around his neck.
The cellphone rings often and his eyes look toward the sidewalk and street, scanning for the next person who may walk through the door that he can help.
Not as meaningful to him is talking about himself and a life dedicated to helping others.
But the recognition of his contributions to the people and places he loves are clear in the eyes of others.
His “love language” is poured out through giving.
He owns “distinguished alumni" awards from Eastern Wyoming College and the University of Wyoming.
He is a member of the Wyoming Business Hall of Fame, recipient of the University of Wyoming Alumni Associations Lifetime Service Award, United States Jaycees Outstanding Service Award, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Outstanding Service Award and received the “Significant Sig Award” from Sigma Chi Fraternity.
Asked to define himself, Brown pauses.
“Of course, I wanted to be a good husband and good father, I think we all do,” he said. “I would like to say I always wanted to do my part. Don’t know what that is exactly, but an honest and upright businessman and just wanted to do my part for my fellow citizen and neighbors.”
Office Calls
He still gets up every day and goes to his office to do just that.
He and Katie have worked together in their various businesses that began with farm implements and grew into a major retailer of agricultural equipment, fertilizer, farm supplies, a car dealership, and customers and clients stretching across Wyoming and into neighboring states.
The couple sold their retail operations in the mid-1990s and started a new company to finance heavy equipment and leases for agriculture, construction, and transportation industries.
Brown said when they sold the company in the fall of 2020 to a regional bank holding company, the firm was managing a portfolio of 4,000 pieces of equipment and had a client base of 2,500 in every state in the nation.
Brown said he still gets calls from people looking to do business and manages a much smaller C.H. Brown Company that still serves several clients.
“Kate and I basically just work half days, and we spend more time doing, I would say, ‘public service’ is the right term,” he said. “I just finished a couple of terms on the Wyoming Business Council.”
Gov. Mark Gordon appointed him to that role. Other governors tapped Brown for other commissions and agencies during their terms.
Gov. Stan Hathaway appointed him to the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission. Gov. Jim Geringer tapped him for the Wyoming Transportation Commission. Gov. Dave Freudenthal asked the University of Wyoming graduate and longtime football season ticket holder to serve on the university’s board.
Gov. Matt Mead wanted the longtime pilot on the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission.
Additionally, he has been a leader for the Mountain States Hardware & Equipment Dealer Association, on the board of the First Wyoming Bank-Wheatland, and served in roles as a deacon, trustee, and moderator at Wheatland Bible Church.
‘On The Go’
Katie Brown said her husband has been an energizer bunny all his life.
“He and his sister (the late Donna Cay Heinz) were just both on the go all the time,” she said. “Both he and his sister were highly motivated and loved their communities. His sister was the same way in Torrington.”
Brown was born on Oct. 14, 1935, and spent his early years in Nebraska.
His family moved to Torrington in 1949. Parents Charlie and Kathleen Brown owned and operated a farm implement and agricultural business.
He remembers that when he was 12, his dad bought him a Cushman Motor Scooter. His job was to ride it to truck stop and parts place to make pickups and deliveries for the family business.
After graduation from Torrington High School, Brown attended the University of Wyoming for a year and then decided to take advantage of the GI Bill offered to World War II and Korean War veterans by enlisting in the U.S. Army.
During his two-year service just following the Korean War he was assigned to South Korea and became a Cold War warrior working to intercept morse code transmissions between China and North Korea.
Following his honorable discharge, he returned to UW and shortly after arriving on campus happened to find himself in the audience of two coeds on stage who were competing to be the Homecoming Queen that year. The one that caught his eye was from Cheyenne.
His heartbeat faster.
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, do you suppose I could ever get a date with her,” he said. “Maybe you’ve heard this, but incoming Korean and Vietnam veterans were not looked upon highly in some circles.”
The Ask
He said Katie was involved in several campus groups and activities as “Miss Everything” and that he was “Mr. Nothing.”
A year later, a coed in his future wife’s sorority cued him that she was not dating anyone and suggested he might have an opportunity. He got her courage up and called her sorority house several times. It only had two phones.
After several tries, a girl answered and he asked for Katie. When she came to the phone, he mentioned the Homecoming Dance, would she go with him. It was exactly one year after she had been the queen. He said she paused and he knew she was trying to figure out who he was. Finally, she replied that she would.
He then asked her for a “Coke” date so they could get a little better acquainted. She said she would.
“So, this is the best part,” Brown recalled. “We hung up and I got eight or 10 feet from the phone, and I hurried back and dialed and got in. And I got her back on the phone and I said, ‘Do you know who I am?’”
She replied she “thought she did,” he said.
But Katie said she really did not know who he was and just followed her mother’s advice to “go with the first one who asks.” However, that Coke date went well. And her future husband quickly had a fan in her mother.
“I think she was rooting for me,” he said. “She was ‘Kate’ and had so many people trying to get her hand in marriage.”
The couple were married the following July in 1961. They moved to Wheatland and over time were blessed with two daughters, Brenda Sue and Kristi Kay. They lost Brenda to a heart attack on Nov. 11, 2019.
Wheatland Living
While Katie said she initially resisted moving to Wheatland because she was from Cheyenne, once they settled in the city, it quickly became their home.
“People just enveloped you and everything and I just loved it,” she said. “(I’ve) never wanted to live anyplace else. It was a wonderful place to raise children. They could get on their bikes and go anywhere.”
Brown characterizes it as an example of the state’s “great small towns.”
“I think we would have been just as happy in a dozen others," he said. "Kate connected with some really good friends early on and most are all gone now.
"As we think about our girls growing up and riding their bikes around town or going to the swimming pool, the 4-H building, or the fairgrounds, you know it’s just Wyoming small-town living. We have lots of fond memories about that.”
A typical day for the couple is going to the office in the morning and then he takes his wife out for lunch. There may be some downtime for rest or errands in the afternoon. Both have no desire to go south for the winter or spend extended time traveling.
When Brown’s sister was alive, she was their “travel agent.”
They enjoyed trips with her and her husband for several years.
For now, they continue to enjoy serving people. Brown said Katie is well known in the community as a resource and mentor for women who need help.
Wheatland high school students assigned to fundraisers know which door to knock on, he said.
“If you need to sell something, go see Mrs. Brown,” he said.
Katie laughed and said she has a freezer full of pies that are the result of those knocks.
Brown keeps a collection of old tractors and historic buggies that he takes to various parades around the state. That’s his hobby. But it’s also a means to get out in Wyoming communities and do what he loves to do - meet old friends and make new ones.
“Life has been very fulfilling,” he said.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
