George Brooner

Longtime Chestertown resident, George M. Brooner, 86, died Monday night, February 25, at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C., of pneumonia and cardiac arrest. Born in Mulvane, Kansas, on September 25, 1915, he was the son of the late Harley C. and Mary Adaline Friend Brooner. His family also lived in Cicero and Winfield, Kansas. He graduated from Southwestern College in Winfield with a degree in chemistry, and later did graduate work at the University of Kansas. It was at Southwestern that he met Mildred E. Ayers, "Millie." They were married on May 28, 1939, and celebrated their 50th anniversary at a dinner at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club in May of 1989, with friends and family from across the nation. Millie, longtime volunteer co- manager of the Kent and Queen Anne''s Hospital Gift Shop, died in Chestertown in 1995. A lifelong stamp collector and wood craftsman, hobbies he shared with his father, Mr. Brooner also enjoyed fine wordworking and refinishing antique furniture for his family and friends. In high school he won a state woodworking competition, which included a scholarship to Kansas State University in shop arts, but he chose to live at home to study chemistry at Southwestern College. In 1977, following Mr. Brooner''s retirement after 37 years with the Phillips Petroleum Company, the Brooners moved to the home they contracted to be built in Chestertown''s Mile Tree Village. A member of the First United Methodist Church and the Chester River Yacht and Country Club, Mr. Brooner also served on the board of the Kent County Historical Society. He was also a member of the Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Masonic Lodge. An accomplished bridge player and a good golfer, he designed and crafted the hole markers at the Country Club, and made sure his grandchildren learned to play golf there. He had a deep interest in government and a knowledge of international affairs, and kept abreast of issues by reading three newspapers daily. During his years with Phillips Petroleum, Mr. Brooner traveled the world. He helped Phillips start an oil refinery in Italy on his first overseas trip. Later, as an early member of Phillips'' International Department based in New York City, with his background in chemistry and knowledge of the petroleum industry, he negotiated patent licensing agreements for petro refining and petroleum products, including plastics. His other travels for Phillips included Brazil, Venezuela, France, Iran, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, Norway, the United Kingdom and Singapore. Mr. Brooner moved two years ago to a retirement community near his children''s homes in Montgomery County, Maryland, and recently moved to the Methodist Home of Washington, D.C. He visited Chestertown frequently, and lunched at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club when he was in town. He is survived by two daughters and a son, Sarah A. Brooner Hatzfeld and her husband George, of Philadelphia, PA, William G. Brooner and his wife Barbara, of North Bethesda, MD, and Mary E. Brooner and her husband John P. Hannah, of Bethesda, MD; eight grandchildren, Valerie Mockapetris, Ellicott City, MD, Richard J. Hatzfeld, Washington, D.C., David C. Hatzfeld, Tulsa, OK, Caroline M. Vengazo, Chicago, IL, Robert W. Brooner, North Bethesda, MD, Lisa M. Hannah and Joshua Hannah, both of Portland, OR and Jeffrey P. Hannah, Bethesda, MD; and six great-grandchildren, Tehya and Trisha Mockapetris, Ellicott City, Jack Hatzfeld, Sam Hatzfeld and Joe Hatzfeld, all of Tulsa, OK and Madeline Hider, Portland, OR; his brother, Roger Leland Brooner of Wichita, KS, and his sister, Margaret Brooner Wilson of York,NE and 15 nieces and nephews. Another sister, Helen Brooner Green, preceded him in death. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Historical Society of Kent County Maryland, Inc., P.O. Box 665, Chestertown, MD 21620. Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, March 1, at the Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home in Chestertown.

George Brooner

February 26, 2002