East Northport Memorial Dedication For Late NYS Supreme Court Justice: Info

EAST NORTHPORT, NY — Harry Richard Brown, a late New York State Supreme Court justice, is set to be honored with a memorial unveiling Sunday in East Northport, the Town of Huntington announced.

The ceremony is scheduled for noon at the Hon. Harry Richard Brown Memorial Park on Poe Place. The park was previously Kew Avenue Park.

"We're delighted," Keith Brown, a state assemblyman (R, C - Northport) and the son of Harry, told Patch. "We want to thank the Town of Huntington and the town board and town supervisor for dedicating the ball field and a park after him. He died in 1993, and there was no formal ceremony back then. So, the memorial is really to recognize his accomplishments and his career as a public servant and a proud member of the East Northport community."

Harry and his wife, Charlotte, moved to East Northport from Seaford in 1950 after previously living in Brooklyn.

"He helped literally build the community up by starting organizations and building the church there, St. Anthony of Padua," Keith Brown said. "People in the community took up a collection to build the church."

Harry Brown had his law firm in East Northport, where he got heavily involved in the community and raised a family there.

"I think he'd be very proud of what he accomplished in the 43 years he lived in East Northport," Keith Brown said.

The event will commemorate Brown’s 100th birthday, as well as his years of service to his community, including Larkfield Little League, the East Northport Fire Department, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, John F. Kennedy Division No. 4, the Suffolk County Catholic Lawyers Guild, and more.

The memorial is a "long time coming," said Keith, noting his father died 30 years ago.

"My dad was just an amazing person. He touched a lot of lives. When I posted [about the memorial], many people wrote back and said things, but one of the nicest things that was said was, he was the mentor to a lot of young attorneys as a judge. That meant the world to me. He passed away when I was in law school. I'm just happy that I had him for as long as I did."

The Brown family donated the memorial to the Town of Huntington, negating the need for taxpayer funds to build it.

"I'm just so pleased with how the memorial came out," Keith Brown said. "It's really beautiful. It's appropriate that it's at a ball field where he coached and managed all of his sons in little league. He was the little league president back in the 1960s."

Harry Richard Brown Memorial Park and John Walsh Park will be near one another. Bill Walsh, son of John, told Keith that it is nice the two parks will be adjacent to one another, because their fathers were good friends, Keith said.

"My dad and my mom, and John and Mary Walsh used to vacation together," Keith said.

Harry Brown joined the 69th Infantry Regiment ("Irish Brigade") in 1939 after lying about his age and then joined the U.S. Army Air Corps 9th Air Force Signal Corps in 1941. He received a Bronze Star after fighting in Europe as a waist gunner on the B-17 "Flying Fortress."

He was also a 25-year member of the East Northport Fire Department, Larkfield Little League President from 1960 through 1964 and Little League District Chairman from 1965 to 1973.

He served on the NYS Supreme Court from 1980 until his death in 1993. As a jurist, he was known as a "lawyer's' judge."

Harry Brown had six children, 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.