With three sons in one generation on hand, three generations of one family will be honored Wednesday with the Chattanooga History Center's fifth annual History Makers Award.
The luncheon honoring Bill, Frank and Pat Brock -- and their family -- will be held at The Chattanoogan.
They're being honored "for their family legacy of leadership and service," said Marlene Payne, deputy director of the Chattanooga History Center. "They have been very influential in terms of education, politics and religion."
The award luncheon, a fundraiser for the organization, recognizes local individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to Chattanooga, the region, the state or the country.
Annie Hall, chairwoman of the event, said honoring one generation of Brocks came with a stipulation.
"They're all so humble," she said, they insisted "it's our family legacy, not us."
Bill Brock, now a resident of Maryland, is a former U.S. representative, U.S. senator and member of the White House Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan. More recently, he has been counselor and trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., and founder and chairman of Intellectual Development Systems Inc.
Frank Brock, a resident of Lookout Mountain, is a former president of Covenant College and current president of the Covenant College Foundation. Before entering the higher education field, he was an executive of the family's Brock Candy Co. and an official with Brock Consultants.
Pat Brock, a resident of Lookout Mountain and Montana, was president and chief executive officer of Brock Candy Co. when the E.J. Brach Corp. purchased a controlling interest in the Chattanooga company in 1994. He also ran his brother Bill's first campaign for the U.S. House in 1962.
William E. Brock, the grandfather of Bill, Frank and Pat, was the founder of Brock Candy Co., but his interests also included business innovation, political activism, education advancement and civic engagement, according to History Center officials.
The elder Brock's son, W.E. Brock Jr., helped establish what is now the United Way of Greater Chattanooga. He also led business and community support of the local school board's commitment to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to desegregate schools in the 1950s.
In addition, the second-generation Brock was the chairman of the board of trustees at the University of Chattanooga that brought the school into the state university system.