By KRISTIN J. BENDER | Archive & Museum Committee
Mike Brown, the legendary public relations executive who served in the communications profession for more than 50 years, has died.
Brown died at home surrounded by his family on Feb. 21, following a long battle with cancer. He was 73.
Brown had been a seminal figure in California and Bay Area journalism, the Catholic Church, publishing, transportation, education, and public relations since the 1960s. He had retired from his role as director of communications for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in January.
He had been appointed by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone in 2015, for whom he also worked when Cordileone was Bishop of Oakland. In Oakland, Brown served as Director of Communications and Community Relations for three different bishops.
At the San Francisco Archdiocese, Brown was responsible for all aspects of media, and got to build upon his early journalism experience serving as associate editor of Catholic San Francisco, the Archdiocesan weekly. Brown worked closely with the Archbishop, Archdiocesan offices, and the 93 parishes of the Archdiocese to inform people about the activities the local church in San Francisco was undertaking to spread the message of the gospel and to attract people to regular worship at Mass in their local parishes.
Last year, Brown was named Communications Director of the Year by the U.S.–Canada Catholic Press Association.
Before working for the Catholic Church, Brown was a founding Partner with Jeff Raleigh at Brown and Raleigh, a full-service public relations counsel to corporations and associations. Their clients included St. Mary’s College and the California Province of the Society of Jesus.
Earlier in his career, Brown served as the Director of Corporate Communications for Consolidated Freightways Corp., Managing Director of Communications for Southern Pacific Railroad, and Director of University Communications at the University of San Francisco.
His early career in communications began as staff editor for a senior columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle. Among his roles as a young newspaperman, Brown worked for columnist Charles McCabe, “The Fearless Spectator.”
McCabe had a huge following and many letters from readers flowed into the paper. As McCabe’s editorial assistant, Brown would write touching or apologetic replies to most if not all of the letters. Many people remember the beautiful letters and say they formed their opinion about McCabe from them. Yet he never read nor wrote any of them. They were all the work of Brown.
Renowned San Francisco public relations executive Sam Singer said Brown was a “master strategist, an exceptional writer, and a world-class storyteller.”
A tall, imposing figure, Brown was able to light up any room with his stories, charm, and down-to-earth presence, kindness and generosity. Friends said he possessed a gentlemanly, old-world style and panache.
“His humor is so charmingly dry, it would make a Martini blush,” Singer said at the time of Brown’s retirement.
Brown was born in Spokane, Washington, in 1947, and moved to the newly-developed community of Ladera in the foothills of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in 1954 with his parents, Ralph and Eleanor Brown.
He attended St. Raymond’s Elementary School, rode the train each day to Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, and completed his Bachelors degree in English at the University of San Francisco in 1969.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Kathy Fenton Brown, with whom he raised four children in his childhood home in Ladera. He is also survived by daughters Becky Brown of Ashland, Oregon, and Molly Toapanta Brown of Mindo, Ecuador, sons Michael Brown of Ft. Collins, Colorado, and Thomas Brown, who is now raising the third generation of Browns in the family home in Ladera. Brown’s seven grandchildren live across three states and two continents and range in age from 2 to 24.
The family has suggested that in lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to Catholic Charities.
Kristin J. Bender serves on the Archive & Museum Committee of the San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She is a news writer at KTVU in Oakland.