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Christopher Kelly “Chris” Browne

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Christopher Kelly “Chris” Browne

Birth
South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, USA
Death
4 Feb 2023 (aged 70)
Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County, South Dakota, USA
Burial
Cremated Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Chris Browne, illustrator of the internationally-syndicated comic strip Hagar the Horrible, died here on February 4, 2023, after a long illness. He was 70 years old. Christopher Kelly Browne was born in South Orange, NJ, on May 16, 1952. He was the second child of Joan Kelly Browne and Richard A. Browne. In 1957 the Browne family moved to Wilton, CT, where Chris attended public schools and graduated from Wilton High School in 1970. He briefly attended Philadelphia College of Art, but he mainly studied with his father, the iconic cartoonist Dik Browne, working in the family business. Aside from assisting on illustrating the comics Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible, Chris worked for the National Lampoon magazine and was for years a featured cartoonist at Playboy magazine. He published two children's books, Santa Confidential in 2010 and The Monster who Ate the State, about South Dakota, in 2014. The three Browne siblings—Chris, Robert (Chance) and Sally-- had moved to Sarasota, FL, by the mid-1980s to live near their parents and to work on the cartoon strips Hagar the Horrible and Hi and Lois. Chris married Carroll Smith in Sarasota, where the couple remained until moving to Sioux Falls in 2005. From here, Chris created numerous drawings and paintings in addition to the cartooning work he assumed following Dik Browne's 1989 death. He continued to be the 'face' of Hagar the Horrible until health issues impeded his mobility. Family and friends remember Chris as immensely talented, witty, intelligent and congenial. "He was a gentle genius, just the most charming person you could ever meet," his brother Chance said. "By the time he was ten, he could draw as well as any of our family's many professional artist friends. He really was a prodigy and a born cartoonist. He could make me laugh harder than anyone else ever could, and I'll miss him forever." Chris is survived by his brother, Chance Browne, of Wilton, CT; their sister, Sally Browne-Boeras, of Sarasota, FL; sister-in-law Debra Browne; brother-in-law, Rico Boeras; stepdaughter, Ashley Smith; and numerous nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and -nephews. He was predeceased by his wife. Miller Funeral Home and Crematorium in Downtown Sioux Falls assisted with arrangements.
Chris Browne, illustrator of the internationally-syndicated comic strip Hagar the Horrible, died here on February 4, 2023, after a long illness. He was 70 years old. Christopher Kelly Browne was born in South Orange, NJ, on May 16, 1952. He was the second child of Joan Kelly Browne and Richard A. Browne. In 1957 the Browne family moved to Wilton, CT, where Chris attended public schools and graduated from Wilton High School in 1970. He briefly attended Philadelphia College of Art, but he mainly studied with his father, the iconic cartoonist Dik Browne, working in the family business. Aside from assisting on illustrating the comics Hi and Lois and Hagar the Horrible, Chris worked for the National Lampoon magazine and was for years a featured cartoonist at Playboy magazine. He published two children's books, Santa Confidential in 2010 and The Monster who Ate the State, about South Dakota, in 2014. The three Browne siblings—Chris, Robert (Chance) and Sally-- had moved to Sarasota, FL, by the mid-1980s to live near their parents and to work on the cartoon strips Hagar the Horrible and Hi and Lois. Chris married Carroll Smith in Sarasota, where the couple remained until moving to Sioux Falls in 2005. From here, Chris created numerous drawings and paintings in addition to the cartooning work he assumed following Dik Browne's 1989 death. He continued to be the 'face' of Hagar the Horrible until health issues impeded his mobility. Family and friends remember Chris as immensely talented, witty, intelligent and congenial. "He was a gentle genius, just the most charming person you could ever meet," his brother Chance said. "By the time he was ten, he could draw as well as any of our family's many professional artist friends. He really was a prodigy and a born cartoonist. He could make me laugh harder than anyone else ever could, and I'll miss him forever." Chris is survived by his brother, Chance Browne, of Wilton, CT; their sister, Sally Browne-Boeras, of Sarasota, FL; sister-in-law Debra Browne; brother-in-law, Rico Boeras; stepdaughter, Ashley Smith; and numerous nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces and -nephews. He was predeceased by his wife. Miller Funeral Home and Crematorium in Downtown Sioux Falls assisted with arrangements.

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