Melville Brown '10
Date of birth: March 8, 1889
Date of death: November 2, 1936
Age: 47
Lucky Bag
From the 1910 Lucky Bag:
Melville Stuart Brown
Chicago, Illinois
"Chub" "Thug"
Our Chub likes to shoot all the day;
Loves to draw, if he feels in the way.
He's round, fat, and tubby,
Like a cherub so chubby,
And couldn't get made, so they say.
MOST of us come in like a lamb—but not Chub! Never bluffed for a day, he was one of the hardest plebes in 1910. Youngster year and during his Second Class stage he continued to tear along the same wild course, despite the soothing influence of the gentle Winfield. The sole patentee and proprietor of the Golliwog cast of countenance, the Thug nevertheless makes a large hit when he does cut loose on the floor of the Gym. Short and stocky, he was one of the stars of the Rifle Team, and has won his numerals on almost every kind of class team there is. His "M.S.B." on many of the best things between these covers show that his hand is artistic even though his temperament is not.
He usually kept pretty close to the head of the class with a negative amount of honing, and except when helping someone else out, could usually be found during study hours rapt in a bridge game with Cooke and Upty. But more than that, his is a hard, conscientious worker, gifted with infinite patience for the minutiae of detail which most of us are inclined to slur over, hut which make for success in its fullest sense. Endowed with much horse sense and a huge fund of humor. Chub is a sure cure for the blues in any stage, and an excellent counsellor on any question.
"Drop m' somew'ere in de Sevent' Fleet."
Loss
Melville was lost on November 2, 1936 when the aircraft he was aboard crashed. He was the executive officer of USS Lexington (CV 2) at the time.
He had only become a qualified naval aviator (#4171) a short while before, in 1935.
From Wikipedia:
CDR Brown was the Commanding Officer of the USS Truxtun (DD-229) when the ship was commissioned in 1921, and later was Executive Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2).
Namesake
Brown Field Municipal Airport, near San Diego, is named for Melville.
Class of 1910
Melville is one of 15 members of the Class of 1910 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
