Richard P. Brown Jr. OPC '38, a man remembered as much for his acts of kindness as his stellar legal career and enduring support of Penn Charter and the city of Philadelphia, died on Memorial Day, May 29, at his home in Chestnut Hill. He was 96.

A Penn Charter overseer for more than 48 years, Dick was a devoted friend of our school. He grew up on The Oak Road and ran through the hedges in his backyard each morning and onto campus; he attended PC from 1926 until his graduation, with honors as valedictorian, in 1938. It was Dick's expressed wish that his memorial service be held in the Meeting Room, followed by a light reception in his family's old home. His family donated "The Brown House" to the school in the 1970s as a residence for the head of school.

I hope those who are able will join us for his Memorial Meeting for Worship on Friday, June 16, beginning at 11 a.m. When Meeting ends, around 12 p.m., family and friends are invited to The Brown House for a reception.

Erudite, elegant and gentlemanly, Dick was a distinguished Philadelphia lawyer. Beginning in 1948, he practiced law for 40 years with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, first as an associate, then as a partner beginning in 1956. His many leadership positions there included guiding a Long Range Planning Subcommittee in 1962, which oversaw the modern transformation of the firm. He also headed the litigation practice from 1967 to 1978, and helped develop the firm's recognized products liability practice.

Additionally, he served as chair of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association and chair of the Probate and Trust Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He was a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. After his retirement, Dick continued to volunteer as a judge pro tem, appointed to conduct settlement conferences in cases pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and did so into his nineties.

A native son, he served Philadelphia over many decades as a board member, and often chair, of the city's most important institutions, including trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, chair of its Health System, and board member of Penn's School of Law, School of Medicine, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and Institute on Aging. He was chair and a board member of WHYY.

Dick Brown had an educated, deep interest in international affairs as well: In 1974 he led the first group of Americans to tour China after President Nixon persuaded Mao Tse-Tung to open relations with the United States. The group represented the Council of International Visitors in Philadelphia (now called the International Visitors Center). In addition, he participated in and served numerous international organizations, including the Council on Foreign Relations; the International Peace Institute; the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies; the Foreign Policy Research Institute; the Eisenhower Fellowships; and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia.

Dick graduated from Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania School of Law. In World War II he received six campaign stars as a U.S. naval officer, serving first as a junior gunnery officer on the battleship Alabama in the North Atlantic and South Pacific, and later on the staff of the Commander, Amphibious Force Pacific Fleet. He participated in the invasions of the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and was awarded the Bronze star medal in the fall of 1945. At Iwo Jima he observed from shipboard the raising of the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi.

Friends remember that Dick enjoyed the arts, driving a brand-new car, and helping others. Many of us here came to realize, only because an employee receiving treatment for cancer mentioned it, that until he was 94 years old Dick volunteered to drive cancer patients to therapy.

We will miss our dear friend.

Sincerely,

Darryl J. Ford