Family Spotlight: The Browns

By Evie Fordham

Dillon, Donnie II, and Donnie Sr.

For the four Browns — father Donnie Sr., mother Robynne, and sons Donnie II and Dillon –, involvement with Wake Christian Academy has been a family affair, and it started when Donnie Sr. entered the school in the first grade. Since then, his two children have graduated from Wake Christian (Donnie II in 2008 and Dillon in 2011), and his wife Robynne has moved from being a substitute teacher at the school to being Administrative Assistant to the Athletic Director. The uplifting Christian atmosphere is what attracted the Browns to the school, and, in Robynne’s words, is why they “love Wake Christian!”

Donnie Sr. was a member of the class of 1986 and attended Wake Christian for twelve years. He has been a Raleigh Fire Department captain for twenty-five years and is even able to find time to be an assistant coach for the Wake Christian varsity baseball team. His wife Robynne just completed her tenth year as Administrative Assistant to the Athletic Director and is in her fifth year of coaching cheer camp at the school.

The couple is so glad that their children were able to be a part of the Wake Christian experience, too.

Dillon, Robynne, and Donnie II

“We committed to send both boys here because we loved the family atmosphere and desired for them to receive a Christian education,” explained Robynne.

After graduating, Donnie II and Dillon both pursued firefighting, like their father and grandfather before them. Donnie II has three years of service while Dillon graduated from the Raleigh Fire Academy in May. During his six months at the Fire Academy, Dillon and his fellow recruits achieved EMT, Firefighter 1 and 2, and Hazmat Operations Plus certification.

“Being a firefighter requires a lot of team effort and working well together day in and day out,” stated Dillon, “Wake Christian Academy has a great athletic program that taught me all of the necessities of being a team player.”

He added, “When applying for the City of Raleigh Fire Department, I was required to pass an aptitude test that required me to be academically fit for the job. I am very thankful for Wake Christian’s academic program that helped prepare me mentally and spiritually.”

Dillon has additional things to be thankful to Wake Christian for — his engagement to fellow alumnus Krista Chadwick, who graduated in 2013.

The entire family not only is grateful for the positive environment Wake Christian afforded to them but also has contributed to that environment through their time at the school as well as by being good representatives of Wake Christian in the wider world.