Captain Glenn “Tex” Brewer, USN (Ret.), age 89, passed away peacefully at his home in Fayetteville, Ga. on February 23, 2018.
Glenn Brewer was born on June 8, 1928 in Tyler, Texas, the only child of James H. and Pauline Brewer. He obtained a flying license at age 16 and enlisted in the Navy after graduation from John Tyler High School in 1945, where he was a 3 year letterman in football.
He was a Combat Air Crewman and attended Aerial Photography School at Pensacola. Winning a fleet appointment, he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1951, initially making three Korean War deployments on the destroyer O’BANNON (DDE-450), homeported in Pearl Harbor. After completing Deep Sea Divers School in Pearl, Glenn attended Submarine School at New London and served in various submarines and staff throughout his career. In 1957 he was assigned as head of the Navy Underwater Photo team at the Naval Photographic Center in Washington. In 1964 he became Commanding Officer of the attack submarine VOLADOR in the Pacific, winning the ‘E’ Battle Efficiency Award and one of the few COs to have a “Peacetime Kill” sinking Ex-SEA DEVIL in a Operational Torpedo Weapons test. In 1966, Captain Brewer reported to the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff at SAC Headquarters, Omaha as the Polaris Missile Targeting Liaison Officer, followed by the Senior Army War College at Carlisle, Penn. After a tour of duty in Washington as Special Projects officer with the Deep Submergence Program he assumed command of one of the National Military Command and Control Centers with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a post he held until retirement in 1976.
Captain Brewer’s honors and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Commendation and Korean Service Medal. He was awarded a Navy Commendation Medal for obtaining the first pictures of the underside of the North Pole while SCUBA diving beneath the ice from the nuclear submarine SEADRAGON on the first East-West Polar Passage in 1960, for which he was made a member of The Explorers Club in New York City. In 1961, he received a Navy Citation for meritorious action for saving the life of a USS TENCH crew member injured while skin-diving in Monaco. Glenn also received a special Letter of Commendation for establishing a record operational deep SCUBA DIVE. Several of his photographs taken during his Naval career were published in TIME/LIFE magazines.
While on active duty, Glenn was a National Champion Hydroplane race boat driver, setting world records in both straightaway and competition speed marks, placing him in the Gulf Oil Racing Hall of Fame and 100 MPH Club. Upon retirement in 1976, he worked as a consultant for the government in submarine special projects programs until a serious hang-gliding accident in 1985 resulted in his being paralyzed from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair. Nonetheless, he continued at a late age to participate in wheelchair national athletic track, road racing and swimming competition. Glenn also served with distinction for 16 years as a City Councilman in Fayetteville, Ga.
Captain Brewer is survived by his wife of 67 years, the former Jeanne Fort of Jacksonville, Fla.; three daughters: Kathaleen Brewer of Fayetteville, Ga.; Barbara and Paul Cooper of Desert Hot Springs, Calif.; Cecilia and Jim Englehart of Chambersburg, Pa.; a total of nine grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and one great-great granddaughter. He was predeceased by his only son, James M. Brewer of Austin, Texas.
A memorial service with military honors will be held in the Chapel at Mowell’s Funeral Home in Fayetteville on March 4, 2018 at 3 p.m. Immediately following will be a Celebration of Life at the Historic Train Depot located catty-corner through the parking lot. There will be food, a movie of Glenn’s life, and an opportunity for anyone to share a memory about Glenn.
In lieu of flowers, those desiring may make a donation in memory of Captain Brewer to either Hero Box (www.herobox.org) or The Navigators (www.navigators.org). Please sign his online guest book at (http://www.mowellfuneralhome.com/obituaries/obituary-listings.
Sailor, rest your oar.
Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Home, Fayetteville – www.mowellfuneralhome.com.
