 | GLEN PORTER BROCK |
The following biographical sketch was compiled at the time of induction into the Academy in 1978.
Glen Porter Brock, a mobile railroad executive, was born near Alden, Iowa, November 22, 1896,
the son of Loren Ellsworth and Mable L. (Porter) Brock. He graduated from public school in
Palestine, Illinois, in May, 1918, and enlisted in the United States Army in June serving in the
Infantry at Columbus Barracks, Ohio, until the Armistice was signed November 11, 1918.
Mr. Brock attended Central Business College in Indianapolis, Indiana, and graduated from
University of Illinois in railway administration in 1922. He began his railroad career at the age
of sixteen as call clerk on the Illinois Central Railroad. In his 65 years of service to the railroad
industry, he worked in fifty-two jobs.
In December, 1922, Brock moved to Mobile to work with the Gulf, Mobile & Northern Railroad
as cost accountant. In 1940 he was elected vice president and general manager of the combined
system of the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad and in 1947 was elected to the Board of Directors.
From 1952 to 1957 he served as executive vice president and general manager of the GM&O. In
1957 he was elected president and in 1972 he became chairman of the Board of Directors for the
newly merged Illinois Central Gulf Railroad. In 1976 he became honorary chairman and retired
in 1977, retaining that title.
His railroad career includes his being a director for the Illinois Central Industries, president and
director of the GM&O Land Company and the New Orleans Great Northern Railroad Company,
director for the Gulf Transport Company and alternate director for the Kansas City Terminal
Railroad Company, and a member of the National Freight Traffic Association.
In the banking and financial field Mr. Brock was a director for the Protective Life Insurance
company of Birmingham, the Home Savings & Loan Association, the American National Bank
& Trust Company and the National Merchants Bank of Mobile.
Mr. Brock's civic interests were packed with activities which included his serving as committee
chairman, vice president and president of the Mobile Rotary Club, as well as being appointed to
head committees and elected to major offices for the Mobile Chamber of Commerce. He was a director of the Alabama State Chamber of Commerce and has held committees status with
the Chamber of Commerce of the United States.
Since the Community Chest and the United Funds Agency have been of very great interest for
him, Mr. Brock served as chairman for various committees, as director and was the 1953
General Chairman for the Community Chest Campaign. He was on the board of directors for
both, and was secretary and president for the United Funds of Mobile.
He was involved as a member of advisory boards and committees for the Mobile County
Hospital, the Providence Hospital, the Mobile Mental Health Center, the Southwest Alabama
Council on Alcoholism as well as director or trustee for the Mobile Association for the Blind,
Mobile Heart Association, Mobile Chapter Red Cross, Mobile Mental Health Association and
Moblie Rehabilitation Association.
Mr. Brock's energies were directed as trustee of the Illinois Wesleyan University of
Bloomington, member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Alabama Center of
Mobile, and to the Mobile Area Foundation for Higher Education, an associate member of the
Alabama Education Study Commission, Task Force II; and chairman of the Founder's
Committee, Mobile Baptist College.
He was on the Mobile County Board of the Department of Pensions and Security; the
Alabama State Docks Advisory Board, member of the Council of Youth Oppurtunity, a member
of the Council of Youth Oppurtunity, a member of the Water Works Board of the City of Mobile,
and the Mobile Urban Renewal Agency.
As a result of his cultural interest he was appointed to the Alabama Civil War Centennial
Commission and to the Mobile Civil War Centennial Commission as advisory to the Board of
Commissioners regarding the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay. He was
trustee for the Mobile Art Association and a member of the Advisory Board of the Mobile
Symphonic Society, as well as on the advisory committee of the Friends of the Mobile Public
Library. In 1961 he was chairman for the National Library Week for Mobile and in 1969 he was
the Industry Chairman for the 29th National Bible Week.
Mr. Brock received the M.O. Beale Scroll of Merit from the Mobile Press-Register three
times for civic activities. He was the 1961 "Mobilian of the Year" and received the "Golden
Anniversary Award" for 1961 from the honorary fraternity of Beta Gamma Sigma, University of
Alabama Chapter, for distinguished ability in the field of business. In 1959 he received the
honorary doctor of laws degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and the "Illini Achievement
Award" from the University of Illinois Alumni Association in 1969.
He was affiliated with the Seaman's Club of Mobile, the Alabama Business Research
Council, University of Alabama; Southern States Industrial Council (U.S. Industrial Council),
the Alabama Royal Association of Kansas City, the Mississippi Research & Development
Council, and the Citizens' Conference of Alabama State Courts. He served on the Army
Advisory Committee of Mobile; as a member of the Avisory Board of the Ordnance District
Chief, Birmingham, and as capital civilian chairman of the 1960 Armed Forces Week.
He participated in fund raising activities for the Florence Crittenton Home in Mobile as well
as serving with the Finance Committee of the Mobile Boy Scouts of America.
Mr. Brock was a member of Pi Kappa Phi, the Navy League of the United States, the Newcomen
Society of North America, and the Shrine. Mr. Brock's religious affiliation was with the Dauphin
way United Methodist Church where he served as chairman of the Board of Stewards.
He was married to the former Ester Goodwin of Palestine, Illinois, and they had two sons, Paul
Warrington and Glen Porter Jr., and six grandchildren. He is now deceased.
Updated: March 14, 2007