Mr. Brown, longtime CHS principal, dies

Mr. and Mrs. Brown 

By Mark Buffalo

Staff Writer

@markbuffalo

An institution has died.

Raymond H. Brown, the former longtime principal of Carlisle High School, died at his home in Warren, June 21, 2019. Mr. Brown was 89. 

Mr. Brown served as CHS principal from the fall of 1966 until the spring of 1991 when he retired from education. He started his education career as a history teacher at Mablevale in Little Rock following his graduation from Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, now the University of Central Arkansas. 

At the end of his tenure at Carlisle, the gymnasium was named in his honor.

After retiring from Carlisle, Mr. Brown and his wife Doris moved to Warren where his son Raymond H. Brown Jr. [Hal] was living with his family. 

“My dad wanted to help raise the grand kids,” said Lori Brown, Mr. Brown’s daughter. “He really enjoyed sports with his grandson Trey [Raymond H. Brown III].”

Mr. Brown is survived by his wife of 63 years, Doris; his son Hal and wife Pam; daughter Lori; grandson Trey; granddaughter Leanne Anthony; and great granddaughter Emmie Kate Brown. 

Mr. Brown was born Aug. 20, 1929 in Bryant. He was a great athlete and baseball was his game. After graduating from Bryant High School, Mr. Brown played baseball for three seasons at UCA and was a member of the 1949 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference champions. Lori Brown noted that her nephew Trey also played baseball at UCA. 

Mr. Brown may not have been from Carlisle, but according to Lori, he loved his time there. 

“He loved Carlisle,” Lori said. “He told me in recent years that of all the places he’s ever lived, he liked Carlisle the best. He really liked the people of Carlisle. He really loved the kids in Carlisle. I think they responded well to him. I don’t think they always liked him. 

“I think in the years after they got out of school, they respected him. He was tough on the kids. He excited them to do right and I think they did.”

Mr. and Mrs. Brown were the first two selected as honorary alumni by the CHS Alumni Association in 2002.