Former AWDA Chairman Martin Brown passed away Saturday, March 8, at his home in Leawood, KS. He was 83.
Brown was a native of Kansas City and graduated from Paseo High School in 1941. He was an Eagle scout and a member of the Tribe of the Mic-O-Say. Brown attended the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and belonged to Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He served with the Second Marine Division in the Pacific. During the Korean conflict, he trained officer candidates and recruits at Parris Island. He was honorably discharged as a captain. Brown was a partner in Sam Brown Auto Parts Co. and Keystone Automotive Warehouse. He created the Bumper to Bumper national marketing program, which he sold in 1983. He was a marketing consultant for Barkley & Evergreen Advertising for five years. He purchased the ADI Automotive Parts warehouse in 1989, was a partner in the CARQUEST Marketing program, and owned many CARQUEST auto parts stores before retiring in 1994.
Brown was active in the Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association throughout his business career and served as chairman in 1979. Aftermarket veteran Chuck Udell shared with aftermarketNews the announcement of Brown’s passing. Udell added that Brown was a mentor to him when he first entered the automotive aftermarket. “He was really quite a man,” Udell said. “He sort of took me under his wing when I came to the aftermarket and taught me a lot.”
In his local community, Brown was a lifetime member and past president of Kehilath Israel Synagogue. During his tenure as president (1967-69), the congregation acquired ground for a school building at 108th and Nall and initiated plans for a move to Johnson County from Kansas City, MO. He also was a director of the Broadway National Bank before its merger into the Merchants Bank. He was director since 1976 of the Valley View State Bank.
Brown is survived by his wife of 61 years, Helen Romer Brown; daughters, Sara (Michael) Sher of Highland Park, IL, Loren Beth Brown of New York, Ronna Brown (Robert Jackson) of New York; four grandchildren, Benjamin (Heather), Rachel, Rebecca, and Maia; brothers, Paul (Reeva) Brown and Bernard (Barbara) Brown; brother-in-law, Marvin (Sandra) Romer.
