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Harry H. Brace
 August
23, 1937 —
September 17, 1999
Rotarian Harry Hitchcock
Brace died unexpectedly on
Friday, September 17, while
exercising at the Central
YMCA. He was 62.
Charlotte Observer Columnist
Ken Garfield captured the
Harry Brace we knew and
loved in a column on Sunday:
"There's a sweet, sad
justice to Harry Brace
passing away while working
out at the YMCA. He's gone
on to a better place, of
course. But as president and
chief executive officer of
the YMCA of Greater
Charlotte, he would have
been the first to tell us
that the best place on earth
was the Y."
Harry's doctors had
prescribed exercise after
recent heart trouble. Said
Garfield, ". . . the best
prescription anyone could
have given him was to spend
as much time as he could at
the Y, for it was the place
to which he gave his heart
and soul. That's what made
him so special to me and so
many others," Garfield
continued. "We were touched
by his faith in God, his
warmth for people and his
passion for a bunch of gyms
that became his ministry."
A native of Dubuque, Iowa,
Harry grew up in Omaha and
graduated from the
University of Nebraska. He
received a master's degree
from George Williams
College. He was involved in
Y work for 40 years in
Minneapolis, Chicago, Grand
Rapids and for the past 16
years as head of the
Charlotte Y.
Under Harry's leadership the
Greater Charlotte YMCA
became the nation's seventh
largest. In 16 years,
membership grew to 106,000
members and $40 million in
revenue. Ironically, only
four days after his death,
the Y announced plans to
build its third center city
location, this time in the
new Gateway complex Bank of
America is developing in
Third Ward.
In his invocation at
Tuesday's meeting, Julian
Aldridge caught the spirit
of what made Harry special:
"We give thanks for the
lives of people whose
service on behalf of others
has enriched life for all;
most especially, on this
day, we remember with
gratitude the leadership of
Harry Brace, whose
commitment to the health of
body, mind, and spirit made
our community a better place
in which to live."
No doubt, Harry's already
working on a celestial
branch of the Queen City Y.
Memorials may be made to the
Harry Brace Memorial Fund,
c/o Central YMCA, 500 E.
Morehead St., Suite 300,
Charlotte, N.C. 28202.
We extend our sympathy to
Harry's wife, Jean, his
three children and his five
grandchildren. A memorial to
our student educational fund
will be made by the Club. |
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