Roland Hayes 'Hunky' Brown, a gentle, quiet spirit
Growing up in West Philadelphia, Roland Hayes "Hunky" Brown was the marble champ of the neighborhood. "He would come home with everybody else's marbles," his family said.
Growing up in West Philadelphia, Roland Hayes "Hunky" Brown was the marble champ of the neighborhood.
"He would come home with everybody else's marbles," his family said.
Could this skill have led to his later expertise at the pool table? Whatever, Hunky was known as a billiard whiz at such parlors as the Drexeline Billiard Club, in Drexel Hill.
The owner, Robert Maidhof, called him "Dad."
Roland Hayes, an employee of the Northrop Grumman Co. and an Army veteran of World War II, died Jan. 3. He was 83 and lived in West Philadelphia.
He was born in Philadelphia to Clarence and Daisy Brown, and attended Overbrook High School, where he excelled at cross-country and swimming.
He served in the Army from 1944 to 1946 in the Pacific Theater. He was stationed in Japan at the end of the war.
Roland had many interests, including handicapping horses, which he did with some success at local tracks and, in later years, at the Turf Clubs in Upper Darby and at 17th and Market streets.
"Hunky possessed a gentle, quiet spirit often mixed with a dry sense of humor," his family said. "He was a joy to be around."
He was a hit at the Main Line Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Paoli, where the nurses called him "the baby" because of his gentle nature.
Roland was a music fan, especially of the singing of Sarah Brightman.
His wife of 61 years, the former Margaret Deas, died in August.
He is survived by four sons, Roland Jr., Gary, Darrell and Steven; two daughters, Pamela and Linda; a brother, Hubert; a sister, Elaine Hunt; 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 5732 Race St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Rolling Green Memorial Park, West Chester.