Brown, Francis Bruce

• Brown, F. Bruce

• Brown, Francis Bruce

Francis Bruce (F. Bruce) Brown was born in Toronto in July 1899. His father was the architect John Francis Brown. F. Bruce Brown attended Rosedale Public School and University of Toronto Schools before he served in WWI with the 85th Battery of the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Siberia, Russia. His commanding officer in the military was Raymond Massey, the famous actor and father of Canadian architect Geoffrey Massey. Brown received his B.Arch. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in 1923 and was the recipient of the Architectural Guild medal. That same year he was awarded the Ontario Government French Travelling Scholarship and studied at the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts in France during 1923-24. He received his M.Arch. from the University of Toronto in 1925. He joined his father's firm in 1926. He married Myrtle Estelle Hare in 1930 and they had five children: two boys and three girls. His architectural specialty was churches, designing over 100 churches throughout Canada. In the late 1940s he and E.F. Ross Brisley partnered in the firm Bruce Brown & Brisley (1946-1962). The firm later changed to Brown, Brisley & Brown (1962-1972). He retired from his architectural practice in 1972. In 1956, in recognition of his design work for McMaster University, F. Bruce Brown was awarded a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, from McMaster University. F. Bruce Brown was a President of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (1964-65), an Associate in the Royal Institute of British Architects, an Honorary Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, and an honorary life member of the Ontario Association of Architects. Brown was a member of the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto, an enthusiastic amateur artist, and a frequent sketching companion of the Canadian artists A.J. Casson and Clare Bice. F. Bruce Brown died on July 30th 1983 in Toronto.