Leonard G. Brown ’71

Len died July 2, 2020, from complications of Parkinson’s disease. He left behind a legacy of a life devoted to improving his community.

Len came to Princeton from Phoenix Union (Ariz.) High School, where he was a standout athlete and leader. At Princeton he played football (varsity letter in 1968) and then made a major commitment to serving youth in the Princeton community. Len relished the opportunity to tutor and mentor low-income, mostly Black, youths as assistant director of the Youth Center and then as director of Community House on Witherspoon Street. Len was active in the Association of Black Collegians and WPRB on campus. He lived at Community House with John Mavros and Mike Gage. Len won the Frederick Douglass Service Award in 1971. His friends remember his vitality, conviction, kindness, determination, and commitment to improving the family environment and the lives of children. He later completed law school at Southern University and then practiced law in Arizona for many years.

Len later moved to Amherst, N.Y., where he finished his career as a college instructor in the SUNY system. The Pace Center for Community Engagement renamed its annual leadership award the Leonard Brown Leadership Award, given annually to members of the Community House family as noted at https://pace.princeton.edu/news/honoring-community-house-founder-leonard-len-brown-71.

The class extends its condolences to his wife, Patricia; children Jhamal Brown, Rhea-Christine Brown-Palmer, Rhamsye Brown, and Winston T. Harrell; 13 grandchildren; other family and many friends.