The accomplished lawyer and politician served as legal counsel to the government committee that recommended President Richard M. Nixon’s impeachment, and defended a member of the so-called Lucchese crime family.

Brown was an assemblyman in the state legislature, representing the 27th District, and on the zoning board of adjustment in East Orange, where he resided until he died from diabetes complications.

Family, friends and colleagues remember Brown as a big-thinker, a role model and an excellent orator.

Brown was born in 1947 in Wetumpka, Ala,, but was raised in Albany, N.Y., where he was described as a stellar student and athlete.

“His nickname became ‘Bookie,’ because he was a bookworm,” said Brown’s aunt Bertha Ellis.

He attended high school in Albany, and earned a football scholarship to Central Connecticut State College. He moved to East Orange, where his parents had moved years before, and received his law degree in 1973 from Rutgers University in Newark.

“Law just fit my brother’s personality,” said his younger brother, Raymond Brown. “He was argumentative. He was the life of the party. There wasn’t anyone who liked to be on stage more than him.”

As a student, Brown met his future wife Donna, who worked at the library at Rutgers. The couple had a son, Remington Brown, and later divorced.

After graduating, Brown moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as counsel on the Judiciary Committee for the House of Representatives. In 1974, the committee investigated the Watergate tape scandal and recommended President Richard Nixon’s impeachment before his resignation.

In 1976, Brown moved to East Orange and served as a municipal prosecutor and as an Essex County public defender before opening a private practice. In the late 1980’s, he defended James Fede, one of 20 defendants accused of being in New Jersey’s Lucchese crime family. All of the defendants were acquitted after a 21-month federal trial, according to “New York Times” reports at the time.

During the trial, Brown moved to Orange and was elected as mayor there in 1988.

“He loved the city of Orange,” said Raymond Brown. “Most people that decide to embark in politics start as a councilman or a volunteer, but he always played the big game.”

Brown was the first African-American mayor to represent the city’s new black majority, which had shifted from Italian-Americans in the 1970’s.

Jack Kelly, Orange’s chief financial officer who worked under Brown’s administration, said it was not Brown’s race but his oration skills that helped mobilize the town.

“Before Bob took office, you couldn’t give away Main Street properties,” Gamba said. “But after he took office, it was bustling.”

Brown was elected as a state assemblyman in 1992, and served jointly as Orange’s mayor until 1996.

He moved back to East Orange, where his parents left their house before they died, and served on the zoning board of adjustment until his health began to deteriorate.

Brown’s caretaker Ella Laffiette said that in his last days, Brown showed devotion to his son, Remington, now 24.

“Even in his last days when he had completely lost his sight, he lit up like a Christmas tree when his son walked in the room,” Lafiette said. “Everyone is really, really going to miss him.”

Brown died at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. He is survived by his son and his brother, Raymond. The family will receive visitors between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Monday at St. Matthews A.M.E. Church at 336 Oakwood Ave. in Orange. Visitors may also view the remains from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the same location, with services to follow.

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“Reach Back with One Hand and Pull Someone Else Up With You.”

– Charles C. Cobbertt

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