Benjamin L. Brown, former District Court judge and city solicitor who served for 13 years as Baltimore's chief legal counsel during the administration of William Donald Schaefer, died of cancer yesterday at Keswick Multi-Care Center in Roland Park. He was 72 and lived in Mount Washington.
"He was an institution, and we're going to miss him," said Mayor Martin O'Malley. "He was a total gentleman who cared deeply about the city and brought a tremendous amount of knowledge to his work."
In 1999, Mr. O'Malley appointed Mr. Brown to the transition team for the Baltimore solicitor's office.
"He was on the transition team and helped get my administration rolling," Mr. O'Malley said. "He served as a mentor to my city solicitor, Thurman W. Zollicoffer Jr.
"He also brought a real, solid, steady hand as chair of the board of commissioners of the housing authority, giving it continuity and a gentle touch that only he could bring to the task."
Mr. Schaefer, the state comptroller and former governor, lured Mr. Brown from his judicial seat and into city government.
"He was the finest man I could ever have had as a city solicitor. I felt as though I've just gotten hit in the belly. I had just visited him a month ago and had no idea he was ill," Mr. Schaefer said.
"He was a most cooperative and forceful city solicitor, and if he said no, that was it, I never asked why. I never questioned his judgment."
Mr. Brown's calm demeanor was among his trademark qualities, said those who worked with him.
"Under pressure, he was a perfect gentleman," said former City Council President Mary Pat Clarke. "The worse the crisis, the more calm he became."
Mr. Brown was born and raised on Lanvale Street across from Lafayette Square in West Baltimore.
After graduating from Frederick Douglass High School in 1947, Mr. Brown enrolled at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he worked his way through college waiting on tables.
After graduating from Lincoln University in 1951, Mr. Brown served in the Army for two years and worked as a postal worker until enrolling at the University of Maryland School of Law.
He worked as a probation officer and attended school at night, earning his law degree in 1959.
"Many lawyers coming out of law school don't know where the courthouse is," he said in a 1985 profile in The Sun. "I had the experience of interacting with judges, clerks and lawyers."
He went into private practice and served two stints in the city state's attorney's office. In 1973, he was named to the District Court bench by then-Gov. Marvin Mandel.
The next year, he accepted Mayor Schaefer's offer to become city solicitor, succeeding George L. Russell.
When his fellow judges wondered about the wisdom of his leaving the bench, Mr. Brown quickly answered his critics: "There's a whole lot of judges, but there's only one city solicitor."
From 1974 until 1987, when he left the solicitor's office to become deputy general counsel and executive director of the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers in Washington, Mr. Brown directed a staff of 170, including 65 lawyers handling all civil legal matters for the city.
During the 1970s, Mr. Brown drafted and oversaw the implementation of the city's affirmative action and minority business enterprise programs and also earned a national reputation in the "field of municipal bonds by finding new and innovative ways to finance city projects," reported the Daily Record in a 1987 article.
In addition to serving as city solicitor, he also was a member of the Baltimore City Board of Estimates and of the Baltimore City Board of Ethics and served as general counsel to the Municipal Employees Credit Union.
Looking back over his years as city solicitor, he told The Sun in 1985 of his immense satisfaction with the job.
"Being here during the time of Baltimore's renovation, participating in Baltimore's move forward and doing creative legal things to push the city ahead in its development was an especially rewarding experience," he said.
In 1994, he left the National Institute of Municipal Law Officers. At his death, he was semiretired and was of counsel to the Glen Burnie law firm of Addison & Darden.
During the 1990s, Mr. Brown had served on the board of the University of Maryland Medical Systems and had been a member of the Board of Regents of what now is the University System of Maryland from 1988 to 1998. He had also served on the boards of Allfirst Bank and TCI Cable Communications.
"He was the most competent and intellectually alert person that I had the opportunity to serve with," said former Mayor Thomas J. D'Alesandro III. "He had the ability to zero in on a problem, no matter how complex, simplify it, and work out a solution."
Mr. Brown's marriage to Roslyn Moody ended in divorce.
Mr. Brown was a member and Sunday school teacher at Metropolitan United Methodist Church, 1121 W. Lanvale St., where services will be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday.
He is survived by his wife of seven years, the former Wilhelma Garner-Brown; two daughters, Roslyn B. Turner of Baltimore and Johanne R. Brown of New York City; his mother, Flossie W. Brown of Mount Washington; a sister, Marian J. Bowley of Baltimore; two grandsons; four great-grandchildren; and four nieces.