Former MM&P president Tim Brown dead at 73

Shipboard union leader is remembered as bringing “stability and respect” to the Masters, Mates and Pilots organization.    Capt. Timothy A. Brown, 73, who led the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots as international president for 21 years before retiring at the end of 2012, died on Sunday.
   Brown joined the union in August 1965 and served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during the Vietnam War.
   Brown gained MM&P office in 1991 as an insurgent candidate in what the union’s newspaper said was a “badly fractured organization” at the time, in part because of controversial investments made by union benefit plans before he took office, including some in shipping.
   The current president of the MM&P, Don Marcus, said Brown “brought stability and respect to our organization. Tim had a great and generous heart and it was always with our brothers and sisters who were working aboard ship. He preserved the livelihoods, working conditions and benefits for our members, pensioners and their families. He worked with particular dedication to enhance health care benefits for everyone covered under the MM&P Health & Benefit plans.”
   Brown won many awards for service to the industry, including the Admiral of the Ocean Seas (AOTOS) Award in 2002, the Seafarers’ and International House “Outstanding Friend of Seafarers” Award in 2004, and the Father Lalonde “Spirit of the Seas” Award by the Council of American Master Mariners in 2012.
   In 2009, he was admitted to the Port of New York and New Jersey’s International Maritime Hall of Fame.
   He retired as MM&P president on Jan. 1, 2013. In March of that year, he was named a Commodore of the U.S. Maritime Service by order of President Obama.