William Andrew (Bill) Browne Jr. passed away Wednesday, May 4, 2022, at his apartment at The Windcrest on Van Dorn in Lincoln. He was 83.
Bill was born March 3, 1939, at his family’s home on Main Street in Salem, Nebraska, to William Andrew Browne Sr. and Norma Easter Lila Wickham Browne. He grew up playing every sport available to him, and he especially enjoyed fishing for catfish and carp with his father.
In high school, Bill starred in football, basketball and track for Salem High School’s Bobcats, playing quarterback on the football team and leading the basketball team in scoring. In the summer, he played baseball for the Falls City Legion team. He graduated in 1956.
Bill attended Nebraska Wesleyan University and played baseball for the Plainsmen. He married Elaine Fritz from Verdon on August 15, 1959 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, six miles north of Falls City.
Bill graduated from NWU in 1960 with a degree in business.
Bill never gave up sports, and he was a star performer on Woodman Accident and Life’s softball, basketball and bowling teams. In addition, he played AAA fast-pitch softball at Ballard Field, and he played basketball and softball for Faith Lutheran, where he served as an elder. Fishing remained a lifelong sport that he enjoyed until his passing.
Bill was preceded in death by Elaine, who passed on Nov. 12, 2021; his parents, and his half-sister, Norma Jean Wittwer Lock Adams. He is survived by his daughter, Cindy Schmidt, and her husband, Michael Schmidt, of Lincoln; and his son, Jeff, and his wife, Susannah Neal of Iowa City, Iowa.
His funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11 at Faith Lutheran Church, 8701 Adams St. in Lincoln. Interment will follow at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery, six miles north of Falls City, Nebraska.
