He attended St Clair Primary School, Macandrew Intermediate (1946-47) and King’s High School (1948-51), and from the time he left school Mr Browett was deeply involved in serving the community.
He was a scout, a leader in Scouting New Zealand, a member of the territorial army, a member of the Vintage Car Club, a deacon at First Church and a justice of the peace.
Mr Browett was the Dunedin Civil Defence Officer from 1970-72.
His interest and involvement in scouting began at high school. He was a prominent figure in Scouting New Zealand, specifically in the Coastal Otago and Central Otago regions.
Mr Browett served for 44 years, starting as an assistant scout leader in the St Clair Group in 1953. He became assistant district commissioner of the Cargill District in 1961 and then district commissioner in 1965.
He then served in various area roles including area training leader before spending three years as area commissioner. He was passionate about the Wairoa Scout Camp which was set up in 1948.
Mr Browett was a life member of Scouts’ Aotearoa and a member of the Scouting Otago history committee which produced a book Scouting in Otago — A Centennial History 1908-2007, written by Sinclair Jones.
In 2000, he was awarded the Silver Tui, a prestigious award and New Zealand’s highest honour in scouting. He retired from scouting in 2009.
Mr Browett served with the New Zealand Army (Malaya Service No 924716) during the Emergency in Malaysia from 1964-66 as New Zealand helped Malaysia to fight Indonesia’s attempt to wrest control of the North Borneo territories.
Lieutenant Hector Browett was promoted to temporary Captain on August 1, 1966, and was company commander of the 4th Battalion New Zealand Infantry.
He took an active part in the running of the branch and served as chairman and on the committee. He also initiated and put a lot of work into recording the earlier history of the Otago branch.
Mr Browett’s interest in vintage motorbikes led to his involvement in the Brass Monkey Rally. He could lay some claim to influencing the location of the rally as he used to own a property at Patearoa and was asked by the organisers of the first rally if he knew of a good place to hold it.
In an ODT article "Cool Runnings" in June 2010, Mr Browett said he did not fit the stereotypical image of someone who would attend motorbike rallies and made no apology for that.
He rode a 1930 Ariel to the first rally. With the assistance of his good friend, John Twaddle, Mr Browett was able to attend every rally until they stopped being held.
He won the New Zealand rally when he was 80, on a Scott motorcycle called the Flying Squirrel.
In March 1986, Mr Browett was appointed to the First Church Deacon’s Court. He served on a Ministry Settlement Board (for the appointment of a minister there) and he also held a keen interest in the church organ and church music.
On March 11, 1993, Mr Browett was sworn in as a justice of the peace (JP) at the Dunedin District Court.
He took his JP duties seriously, holding a ministerial role for the duration of his time. He regularly attended upskilling courses and kept up to date with his bi-annual online accreditation.
He gave his services unstintingly and spent some years on the Otago JP Council assisting with the day-to-day needs of the association.
Mr Browett was awarded a 30-year service certificate by the then president of the Otago Justices of the Peace Association, John Campbell. He was very proud of the award and shared some of his experiences.
When he left school, Mr Browett worked for Shacklocks in Dunedin.
In the course of his career at King’s, Mr Browett taught students who required extra assistance and also legal studies. He became head of commerce and developed work experience classes. He was instrumental in setting up evening classes in the 1970s, which was one of the most important aspects of development of King’s in that era.
Apart from teaching, Mr Browett was involved in outdoor education, shooting and skiing, and also assisted in school administration roles, managing the finances in areas such as the canteen and bookshop.
He was a member of the King’s Old Boys’ Association and in 2022 was presented with a special "Old Boys" cap to recognise his commitment to the school and the association over the years.
As mentioned earlier, Mr Browett owned a property in Patearoa. His father bought land there in the 1950s and that became the focus for family holidays every year.
Mr Browett assisted his father to build the first bach and then his brother John built one next door. Eventually Mr Browett sold the original bach and bought his brother John’s bach.
Holidays continued at Patearoa until the bach was sold in the 2000s.
Mr Browett loved to travel and would recount wonderful stories of his time in places such as Sydney, Vietnam and Egypt.
He attended scout jamborees all over the world and in the 2000s he travelled to London to attend the opening of the New Zealand War Memorial. Mr Browett had his photo taken, a radiant smile on his face, standing next to Helen Clark and Queen Elizabeth II.
He had a large group of friends, and students he taught remember him fondly. He led an active life and contributed much to the community.
Mr Browett died on June 21 aged 90. His generous donation to various groups he was involved with will see his legacy of service continued. — Supplied
