William Arthur Brower Jr.

William Arthur (Bill) Brower, Jr., 91, died on August 25, 2022. He is survived by his wife Cynthia L. Williams.

Bill had life experience in retail, as a USAF flight engineer/crew chief, railroad locomotive engineer, and as a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

He worked as a climatologist at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville from 1968 to 1995. In retirement, he managed 7 acres of forest surrounding his self-designed, passive-solar home on the Swannanoa River.

Bill was born in Lakeland, FL, into a family of railroad men. His grandfather, father, and five of his uncles were locomotive engineers for the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) Railroad.

As a teenager, Bill worked for Publix Supermarkets. When he was 19 years old, he was offered the position of assistant manager of a new store opening in the chain. However, because of the pending draft into the Korean Conflict, he chose to enlist in the US Air Force (1951 – 1955).
After his years in military service, he followed the family’s railroading tradition. Bill worked for the ACLR as fireman and engineer from 1955 to 1964. In 1964 the US Railroads eliminated 15,000 positions having less than 10 years of service but were required to offer another job or pay what each had earned in 1963. Bill had only nine years and chose to take the severance.

From his days in the Air Force, he gained an interest in weather science. He enrolled at the University of South Florida to prepare for a career in meteorology. He graduated from Florida State University, Tallahassee, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology in 1967 and with a Master’s Degree in Physical Oceanography in 1970.

During his 27 years at the National Climatic Data Center he was task manager on a number of climatic marine publications for NOAA and the US Navy, and on the compilation of Global Hurricane Tracks, Global Surface Marine weather data from Ships of Opportunity, and US Surface Marine Weather Buoys. Bill also managed early efforts to establish the US Historical Climate Network of long-term weather stations which is now used to track climate change in the United States.

Bill is the son of the late William and Marie Terry Brower of Lakeland, FL. Two sisters, Ruth Lesnett of Lakeland, FL, and Dot Brett of Cartersville, GA, preceded him in death. He is survived by three nephews and two nieces and many long-term friends.

Donations may be made to the North Carolina Arboretum Society or the American Heart Association.

Groce Funeral Home on Tunnel Road is assisting the family.