Lake Wylie man takes third retirement
A veteran, a pilot and an investment counselor, Owen Brown of Lake Wylie retired for a third time Dec. 31.
“I have spent almost 19 years assisting retired airline pilots with their retirement and personal wealth goals,” Brown said. “I have certainly enjoyed my tenure with Harbor Capital Management. Everyone with whom I have been associated has been outstanding.”
Brown, a graduate of Virginia Tech, entered the Marine Corp. through the Officer Candidate Course in Quantico, Va., with the idea of going to naval flight training. After graduation, he was commissioned as a Marine 2nd Lieutenant.
“It took three applications to flight training before I was finally accepted,” Brown said. “After training, I flew for four years with one year being in Vietnam.”
After Marine active duty, Brown continued on to graduate school to become a stockbroker. However, while at school, he was influenced by an associate to consider the airlines.
While still a member of the Marine Reserves, Brown began flying for Piedmont Airlines, the predecessor to US Airways (now American Airlines). After nearly 29 years of service, Brown retired as a captain flying Boeing 757 and 767.
Brown also had retired as a colonel from the Marines: 30 years of service - eight active duty, 22 reserves.
“Airlines force retirement at age 60, so I still had a lot of time I could give.” Brown said. “While at the airlines I was chairman of the Retirement and Insurance Committee with the Airline Pilots Association, so it was natural for me to want to continue helping pilots with their personal retirement investments.”
He and wife Judy formed an S-Corp, and Brown started work with Harper Capital Management. Thinking he would only be there five years, his enjoyment of the experience kept him there.
“I never had a cross word or an argument with anyone in all of the years I have been here,” Brown said. “It has been an amazing experience.”
With his latest retirement, Brown shows little concern for keeping busy.
“I’m not worried about finding things to do,” he said. “I’ll be playing a lot of tennis, cruising and visiting family. I am also looking forward to volunteering through AARP’s program that helps seniors and lower income families with tax returns.”
When asked how Judy feels about his new retirement, Owen said, “She told me she’s happy, but assured me my retirement will not interfere with her current schedule of activities. She’s a very active person.”
Wendy Dimitri is a freelance writer in Lake Wylie. Email Neighbors at the Lake column ideas to news@lakewyliepilot.com.
This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie man takes third retirement."