Coach Brown never forgot hometown
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Many honors and accolades have been bestowed upon Dale Brown, yet he never turned his back on his hometown of Minot and home state of North Dakota. Brown died Friday, Oct. 23, at age 90.
“Every time I return to my home state I can feel my roots beneath my very feet and the past whispering in my ear. I would not change my upbringing in North Dakota for anything,” Brown said in the March 28, 2016, edition of The Minot Daily News.
Brown grew up in a small apartment above a bar and hardware store while his mother worked to provide a living for him and his siblings. Brown delivered papers to help with expenses.
He graduated from St. Leo’s High School and Minot State Teacher’s College (Minot State University). He was a star athlete at both St. Leo’s and Minot State. He also received a master’s degree at the University of Oregon. He taught several subjects and coached at Columbus High School and later was a teacher and coach at Bishop Ryan High School (Bishop Ryan Catholic School) in Minot, according to the Aug. 21, 2016, edition of The Minot Daily News. He was a U.S. Army veteran.
After sports positions in several states, he and his wife, Vonnie, arrived in Louisiana, where he rose to national prominence as head coach of the LSU Tigers and became the winningest coach in LSU history and the winningest coach in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history.
Among honors bestowed upon Brown in his hometown of Minot include the basketball courts at Hammond Park, dedicated Aug. 20, 2016, and a monument honoring him unveiled at the same time.
He has been inducted into several hall of fames, including the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1981, the North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Bishop Ryan Hall of Fame in 2004.
Family and friends of the Browns set up the Dale and Vonnie Brown Scholarship Endowment at Minot State in 2017.