President of Coronet
Television, President of Car Steel Corporation, sales manager
for Centreline, and founder of Monitor Industries and Techno
Tool and Die. Along the way, he married the late Geraldine
Browning and had two sons, Joseph and Bruce. In 1972 he formed J. L. Browning & Co. and Browning Engineering and
Manufacturing Co. with his son, the late Joseph Browning, Jr. His other son,
Bruce Edward Browning, heads up Browning Associates Design of Toronto.
Mr. Browning’s involvement in the political life of his community
and nation is also well known. In 1943 he started a long
association with the Liberal Party by working with the
late Charles Clarke and the Hon. Paul Martin, Sr. to establish
the first Young Liberals Club, called the Laurier-King
Club of Windsor. He served as its first president, then later
served as secretary of the Ontario Liberal Association in 1945 and secretary
of the Young Liberal Federation of Canada in 1948. While his bids
for election at the provincial and municipal levels did not prove successful,
he has remained a political and community activist throughout his life.
The true embodiment of voluntarism, Mr. Browning has served actively
on numerous organizations and committees including the
Windsor Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee,
the Windsor-Essex Skills Training Advisory Committee,
the Precision Metal Cutting Advisory Committee at St.
Clair College, the Windsor/Essex County Industrial Commission
Strategic Planning and Research Committee, the Board of the Junior
Achievement Association of Windsor, the Big Brothers Association, the Board of the Advertising and Sales Club of Windsor, the Board
of
Iona College, and the Windsor and District Chamber of Commerce, to
name just a few. As a longtime and former president of
the Windsor Downtown Lions Club, he played a lead role
in establishing the Lions Manor on Riverside Drive East
in 1979.
Mr. Browning continues to be involved in a wide variety of
organizations including the Windsor Downtown Lions
Club, the Board of Governors of St.
Clair College, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, where
he is a Senior Life Member. He has been the recipient
of numerous awards and honours including the Melvin
Jones and Helen Keller Fellowships, the two highest International Lions Awards.
Mr. Browning was chosen as the 2005 Black Community Leadership Award recipient
to honour his service to the Black community of Windsor and Essex
County, in particular. Mr. Browning was secretary and vice president
of the Central Citizens’ Association of Windsor,
which paved the way for many of the African Canadian social
action groups that exist in Windsor today. Mr. Browning
was a member of the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism,
the group which laid the groundwork for the federal Ministry
of Multiculturalism. He played a key role in the planning
and fundraising that led to the establishment of the North American
Black Historical Museum and Cultural Centre in Amherstburg, raising
$325,000 as chair of its initial campaign drive. He continued to remain
on the Board of the Black Historical Museum for many years thereafter.
Mr. Browning was also a member of the Underground Railroad Monument
Committee of Windsor and he remains an active member of the Essex
County Black Historical Research Society. While he attends Westminster United Church, Mr. Browning has always remained an active
member and supporter of Ontario Chapel British Methodist Episcopal Church.
Perhaps most importantly, throughout the years, he has mentored, supported
and employed innumerable individuals of African descent as a business
leader, all the while serving as an outstanding example of leadership
both within and beyond the Black community. The award was presented to Mr. Browning on February 26th, 2005.
|
