Val Allen Browning (August 20, 1895 – May 16, 1994)[1] was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and third-generation gunmaker. He was president of the Browning Arms Company.
Early life
Browning was born in Ogden, Utah Territory on August 20, 1895. His grandfather, Jonathan Browning, opened a gun shop in Ogden in 1852.[2] His father, John Browning, is regarded as one of the most successful firearms designers of the 19th and 20th centuries.[2]
Browning graduated from Ogden High School in 1913 and later studied law and engineering at Cornell University.[3] As a young man he worked in the shop his grandfather had opened.[4]
In 1935, he returned to Utah as president of Browning Arms Company. Browning received 48 gun patents during his career. In 1955, he was awarded Knighthood in the Order of Léopold by King Baudouin of Belgium for an "outstanding contribution to the Gun Making Art."[5]
Browning spent his career representing business interests in the United States and Europe. In addition to chairing Browning Arms, he served as director of the First Security Corporation, Utah International, Amalgamated Sugar Company, and the Mountain Fuel Supply Company. Through the 1940s purchase of some of W. L. Wattis' founding shares in Utah Construction Company, Browning shared in the substantial gains in the sale of Utah International.
Personal life
In 1924, Browning married Ann Chaffin (1901–1975) of Farmington, Utah. They had four children. They lived in Belgium until 1935 when they returned to Utah.
Browning died May 16, 1994, and was buried at Lindquist Washington Heights Memorial Park in Ogden, Utah.[6]
References
^"Deaths". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. May 19, 1994. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
^ ab"By 1900, over 75% of the repeating sporting arms on the United States market, both lever and pump, were of John's invention." Browning Firearms CollectionArchived November 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine brochure from The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
^Gun Digest 2011 by Dan Shideler, Krause Publications, July 14, 2010, p. 91
^Ogden's Trolley District, by Shalae Larsen, Sue Wilkerson, Arcadia Publishing, 2012, p. 98
