Lyle Clarence Brown

Lyle Clarence Brown of Robinson, TX, passed away at Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Waco on Friday, June 14, 2024 at the age of 97. Lyle was born near Rossburg, Town of Hume, NY on August 7, 1926 to Laura Hoagland Brown (deceased) and Forrest John Brown (deceased). Shortly after graduation from Fillmore Central High School in June 1943, Lyle worked on the Erie Railroad Carpenter gang before volunteering for the United States Navy on his 17th birthday.

His assignments included boot training at Sampson Naval Training Center, Radio Operators School at Texas A&M University, Officer Training with the V-12 Unit at Louisiana Tech University, and the NROTC Unit at the University of Oklahoma, where he earned his BA and MA Degrees. He was commissioned ensign in May 1946 and served in the Pacific on LSM-463 as officer for communications, supply, commissary, gunnery officer, and navigator. He left Korea in 1947 and began a doctoral program at the University of Texas in the Fall of 1948, where he ultimately earned his PhD. Lyle married Sylvia Dru Sills of Crowville, LA in May 1949. In June 1950, Lyle volunteered for service in the Korean War. He served on the staff of the Commander, aboard the USS Piedmont, as a crypto officer. He spent most of his time encrypting and decrypting code. In the Fall of 1951, he returned to Austin to complete his graduate studies. He remained in the Naval Reserves and retired with the rank of Commander in 1971 completing 5 years of active duty and 24 years in the Reserves. 

Lyle’s career as a college professor spanned 40 years at various colleges including:  Mexico City College (now University of the Americas), postgraduate study at the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico, Texas A&I (now Texas A&M Kingsville, TX), Wayland Baptist (Plainview, TX) and Baylor University in Waco, TX from 1963-1996. He retired from Baylor in 1996 holding the title of professor emeritus of political science. He also served as departmental director of graduate studies and director of Baylor's Foreign Service Program. In addition to his professorship, Lyle authored scholarly articles and publications and coedited Religion in Latin American Life and Literature. He was the Lead Author of Practicing Texas Politics (18 editions, 1971-2023). Dr. Brown remained in contact with many of his students and colleagues until his passing.

He was preceded in death by his parents Forrest J. Brown & Laura Hoagland Brown, sister, Ruth Brown Kocis, brother, Francis “Buster” Brown, son-in-law, Michael Ross Evetts, and his wife of 71 years, Sylvia Dru Brown. Lyle is survived by his brothers, Robert Brown and Jim Brown (Linda); daughters, Alita Kaye Owens (David) and Gloria Brown Oliver (Jamie); son, Paul Brown; granddaughters, Rita Gongora (Christopher), Alison Dillon, and Whitney Dillon; grandson, Sam Oliver (Kaitlin); great-grandson, Everett Oliver, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to the Lyle C. Brown Political Science Endowed Scholarship Fund at Baylor University through Baylor University Secure Online Giving.

A combined memorial service will be held in honor of Dr. Lyle and Mrs. Sylvia Brown on Saturday, July 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Waco (First Mexican Baptist of Waco) at 510 N 4th St, Waco, TX 76701. The memorial service will be streamed/recorded by the family to share with those who are unable to attend in person.

Interment of cremains for Dr. and Mrs. Brown will be held at a later date in Crowville, Louisiana.