Glen Brown wasn’t just a part of the Columbus East High School community.
“He was the heart of it,” said the school’s sports information director, Dennis Pierce, as more than 100 people gathered Wednesday to honor Brown during his posthumous induction into the Columbus East Wall of Fame.
The event took place just over a year after Brown’s death on July 3, 2023, at the age of 67.
During the presentations, a running joke began to emerge among the speakers that they all had allergies. That supposedly was the reason why nobody who spoke was able to maintain dry eyes before concluding their remarks.
Of course, allergies had nothing to do with it. Brown’s sister, Anne-Marie Chatham, may have expressed what most, if not all, speakers were feeling.
“I was thinking about how much I love and miss him,” Chatham said. “He took after our parents (Ralph and Vera Jean Brown). Kids were Number 1 — and not just his own. Glen could make every kid he came in contact with feel like the most important person in the world.”
Former Columbus East football coach Bob Gaddis, who led the Olympians for 20 years before retiring after the 2020 season, said “there’s nobody who is more ‘Columbus East’ than Glen.”
“He was dependable and a very loyal guy,” Gaddis recalled. “He would listen to ideas and not be afraid to try different ways to make things better. Glen was always a guy you could count on.”
Several accounts have been published over the past year regarding Brown’s passion for East athletics. It has been well documented that Brown …
- Skillfully played three sports before becoming a member of East’s first graduating class in 1974.
- Was named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) All-American in football during his senior year at Hanover College.
- Served as assistant athletic director at East from 1997-1998 and as athletic director from 1998 to 2005.
- Was an assistant coach for the 2013 and 2017 Columbus East state champion football teams, as well as the 2016 state runner-up football team.
- Coached football, boys and girls track, and wrestling from 1980 through 2023.
- Was the inaugural winner of the Judson Erne Mental Attitude Award.
- Served as a leader on several statewide organizations that oversee high school athletics.
But Pierce said few people know that when Brown stepped down as athletic director, he remained a passionate advocate for gender equity in athletics.
Brown’s dedication to improving accessibility and professionalism in girls’ athletics was recognized in 2017 when the Columbus Parks and Recreation Dept. named Brown the 2017 recipient of the Jack Cramer Award for Ideals of Athletic Competition, Pierce said.
1991 East graduate Christy Boes Eubanks was one of the female students who were known as “Brownie’s Girls”. It was a moniker given to a select group who assisted Brown in his coaching duties.
Eubanks, who served a year as wrestling manager at East, recalled how the coach always insisted his male athletes respect the girls and never treat them like maids.
Long after graduation, Brown and his wife, Sue Ellen, kept in touch with “Brownie’s Girls” to find out what was happening in their lives, she said.
“I love that title,” Eubanks said. “I will proudly consider myself for life a Brownie’s Girl.”
Brown’s son, Dan Brown of Indianapolis, described his dad as having unwavering dedication to the student athletes whose lives he worked to improve.
“I was beyond lucky to call him my father,” Brown said. “To be able to see his teams, his work ethic, his overall character that set an example on a daily basis.”
In one of the most touching moments of the induction, Dan Brown told the crowd how terrified he was of breaking his father’s heart because he didn’t want to play high school football.
“When I finally told him, Dad embraced me, gave me the biggest bear hug I’ve ever had, and we cried a little bit together,” Dan Brown said. “He told me it was okay, and that I didn’t have to be a football player. It didn’t matter to him what we did, just as long as we gave it 100%. All he wanted for my sister (Rachel Brown Kimmel) and I was to find something we were dedicated to. Something we were passionate about.”
Dan Brown said he knows his father’s legacy will live on by his inspiration to student athletes, as well as other coaches.
“I know he will still have an impact on the school, even though he’s not with us anymore,” he said. “An impact on every student that comes through this building.”
Among those with tears of pride in the audience were Vera and Sue Ellen Brown, as well as several other family members.
