Laurance Brownlee
Laurance Brownlee grew up in Far Rockaway, New York and attended West Point, where he graduated Class of 1929.
A multi-sport athlete, Brownlee played football and fenced all four years. After graduation, he was posted to a variety of military assignments during his 30 year military career, including stints as an instructor of French, artillery commands, and as an attaché to the South Korean government where he helped design that nation’s flag.
He fenced when he could during his military life, but when he was posted to the Presidio in San Francisco in 1954, he met Dr. William O’Brien, the founder of the Letterman Fencers Club in one of the gymnasiums on the base.
READ MORE...A three weapon fencer, Brownlee was an enthusiastic promoter and organizer for the sport. His fluent Spanish was instrumental in the creation of a long-running annual international competition between Bay Area fencers and Mexico, usually held in Mexico City. “Colonel Brownlee”, as he was known, also worked to promote youth fencing programs and one of the bequests from his estate was to the Nor Cal Division of the AFLA that included all of his fencing equipment to be used by youth fencers who needed gear. He retired from the military in 1959 and passed away in 1972.
Articles
A Trio of Deliveries
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Herbert Rhodes: Fencer/Politician
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Michael D’Asaro Goes To Texas
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A Newfound Respect
It’s so much fun to have your expectations and assumptions blown to bits. That happened to me this week when I had the great fortune to meet the daughter of long-time Letterman fencer Colonel Laurance Brownlee.
In His Youth, Bill O’Brien
The founder and long-time fencing master at The Letterman Fencers Club was Dr. William O’Brien. The club’s home was a gymnasium in San Francisco’s Presidio, a windy patch of green near the southern foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.
An Abundance of Riches
These snapshots were taken at the 1963 US National Championships held at the Statler-Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The event ran flawlessly, “…a fact that we have come to expect from Southern California and its Chairman, Fred Linkmeyer.”
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