R.H. Brown was the man with the golden voice. It was the kind that others try to imitate and that earned him celebrity status in the community.
“I think that voice really resonated and stuck out with people,” said Joey Barnes, news director at WCBI. “I can’t tell you the countless times that people would imitate that sign off to me.”
Brown, 76, passed away on May 23 following a brief illness. A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Maranatha Faith Center on Waterworks Road. Burial services will be handled by Carter’s Mortuary Service in West Point.
Born on Nov. 20, 1948, in St. Helena Island, South Carolina, Brown began his career as a reporter and anchor for WCBI in 2000 and continued in the role until his retirement in 2016. Before joining WCBI, Brown worked at WACR, a radio station in Columbus, where he met his longtime friend and colleague, Aundrea Self.
“Most people remember and love him for that golden voice that he had,” said Self, a former WCBI anchor. “I mean, he made the ABCs sound good.”
Self first met Brown when she was just 19, and the two became “fast friends” while working on a morning show together.
“He sort of became like an uncle, kind of father figure to me because I was very young in the business,” Self said. “We both eventually ended up at WCBI as reporters, and our relationship just sort of continued from there.”
Brown became a local icon at WCBI, largely due to his signature baritone sign-off of “R.H. Brown, WCBI News.”
“He was a humble man, but he was well aware that he was a local TV celebrity,” Self said. “He would often joke and say, ‘Self … I can’t go anywhere. They just love me. They won’t give me any peace.’
“He loved his celebrity status and was very aware of it,” Self added. “Even after long after he retired, people still remembered him and recognized him in public, and he ate it up. He loved it.”
However, colleagues agree that it wasn’t just his voice that made Brown stand out, it was his authenticity.
“Our viewers made a connection with R.H. because he was always himself, on air, off air,” Barnes said. “He was genuine. … He had a real connection with people.”
Throughout his career, Brown achieved many milestones beyond his journalism work. He was a proud veteran and authored the book “Call Me Gullah,” in which he explored his heritage in the Gullah community along the South Carolina coast. Brown also served as a pastor at Living Manna Church in West Point until his death.
Self said Brown was known by many names over the years. His real name was Herman Brown, but somewhere along the way, he became known as R.H., standing for Reverend Herman.
“No one ever called him Herman except his wife,” Self said. “He was R.H. to everyone.
“I think that R.H.’s legacy for a lot of people will be a person who was caring and compassionate, who loved telling other people’s stories … and I think people are going to remember that he was not a Columbus native, but he was somebody who made Columbus, West Point, the Golden Triangle home,” she added. “He loved this place, and the people loved him back.”
Brown is survived by his wife, Evonne Brown; his two sons, Dameion and Adrian Brown; and a 3-year-old granddaughter.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
