Furniture icon Hank Browne dies at 82

Hank Browne, who founded a chain of furniture stores with 18 locations in four states and also supported conservation and other charitable endeavors in Arkansas, died Tuesday. He was 82.

“Hank was an extraordinary leader in business and philanthropy,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.

“I will always remember my visiting with Hank about his love for Arkansas and the need to conserve the Natural State. He will be missed in so many ways and I am grateful for his devotion to family and his service to those in need.”

Browne, owner of Little Rock-based Hank’s Fine Furniture, was born on Jan. 11, 1940, in Ponca City, Okla.

His parents divorced when he was young, and he moved to Arkansas with his mother and sister, first to his mother’s family’s antebellum home in Plainview in Yell County, and then to Perryville, where he finished high school in 1956.

He held a succession of farm jobs and dug ditches for the Rock Island Railroad before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. After discharge four years later, he completed a management degree at Little Rock University, now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and went to work for Frank Lyon Co., selling Whirlpool appliances to small stores in southwest Arkansas.

Around his 30th birthday, Browne partnered with TV salesman “Little” John Garner to open a string of new appliance marts. He let Garner buy him out about a decade later and opened Freight Sales Furniture stores in Fort Smith, Russellville and North Little Rock. Freight Sales became Hank’s Discount Fine Furniture in 1995, which later became Hank’s Fine Furniture.

Mary Browne Allen, one of Browne’s three daughters with previous wife Phyllis, is president of the company. His oldest daughter, Jennifer, is a lawyer and has done legal work for the company. His youngest daughter is Laura Browne Lowery.

Browne’s wife Cathy, whom he married in 1999, led the marketing and advertising efforts at Hank’s Fine Furniture until she and Hank reduced their workloads in recent years. Though they

“I will always remember my visiting with Hank about his love for Arkansas and the need to conserve the Natural State.”

— Gov. Asa Hutchinson

stepped away from the business, they remained involved in various nonprofit and conservancy efforts.

Austin Booth, director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, remembers Hank Browne as a long-time hunter.

“They say there is no greater conservationist than a hunter, and Browne’s activism certainly bears that out,” Booth said. “From a small boy growing up in Perryville, he grew a passion for the wild things and wild places of Arkansas. Hank was the epitome of a lifelong Arkansas outdoorsman. He and his wife Cathy have been long- time supporters of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation efforts. The Commission and Foundation family is saddened to hear of the passing of a cherished and important member of the Arkansas outdoor community.”

Browne served on the board of The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas and was a member of The Nature Conservancy Arkansas’ Last Great Places Society. In 2020, he was inducted into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame. Over the years, he gathered not just his sales team but many others at his hunting lodge, Willow Bar, which overlooks the White River near DeValls Bluff.

“He and Cathy opened their home and their hearts to all sorts of people to help connect them to conservation … regularly hosting people from around Arkansas but also from around the country, to come be inspired by the beauty of the Delta and the importance of conservation,” said Scott Simon, director of The Nature Conservancy in Arkansas. “The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation was interested in establishing a program to focus funding in the Mississippi River Valley, and so the Walton Family Foundation and us and some other partners hosted them at Hank’s home over several days, and they participated in a flyover of the Delta and a canoe float through the woods, looking at some of the reforestation and stream restoration projects, so they could really understand what was possible. It was really inspiring to see them invest what’s now been millions and millions of dollars into reforestation and habitat restoration in the Delta.”

Simon, an Illinois native, said Browne took him under his wing when he arrived in the state 25 years ago, teaching him to hunt and inviting him out every duck and deer season. Browne also included Simon in trips he hosted to the Amazon, Africa and South America.

“We became really close friends, and he was essentially like an adoptive father — to me, and several other young people,” said Simon.

Deke Whitbeck, president of the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, recalled Browne’s generosity.

“This is especially true regarding his conservation work and promoting the outdoors to youth,” said Whitbeck. “Hank once said, ‘The biggest hazard to hunting and fishing is kids not getting exposed to it and consequently never having any real interest in it.’ Hank Browne understood that to treasure this resource meant we must pass the love and devotion of conserving to the next generation. We stand on the shoulders of conservationists like Hank Browne.”

The Brownes got involved with Women and Children First after donating furniture for the shelter about 10 years ago. Wallace Smith, vice president and director of federal services at Garver, was event chairman for the Woman and Children First Woman of the Year gala in 2020.

“Hank was one of the people who helped me make sure it was one of the most successful events our organization ever had,” Smith said. “For me personally, it matters so much what he did to help Women and Children First but he also was incredibly giving with Arkansas Children’s [ Hospital] and I know with so many other organizations. Hank had a big heart for philanthropy and did what he could do all of the time. It is a big loss for our community. Hank, God bless him, used his success to help others. That’s about as good a compliment as you can give anybody.”

Daniel Robinson, vice president and senior regional investment officer for Arvest Bank, also met Browne through Women and Children First.

“We have lost a legend,” said Robinson. “His love for his family is something we should take notes on and try to replicate. And as public as they were — they did even more privately. It’s a big loss for many, many organizations, and not only for our community but for people all across the southeast.”