Earl "Plump" Brown

Earl Joseph Brown, affectionately known as "Plump", was the ninth child of Sarah and George A. Brown, Sr. He was born on December 4, 1934. Earl was quite studious in school; he did so well academically at St. Pius Catholic School, that the principal decided that he should skip fifth grade and go directly to sixth grade. He graduated from Frederick Douglass High School with honors in 1952. He wanted to attend Loyola , but he couldn't because he was black. While attending Douglass, Earl was interested in chemistry and biology.

In an effort to fulfill a long time ambition to become a surgeon, Earl enrolled at Morgan State College as a pre-med student; however, concerned that he ws going to be drafted because of the Korean War, he decided to enlist in the Army. Earl requested the medical corps and trained to become a surgical technician.

Upon completion of his training at Valley Forge Army Hospital in Pennsylvania, he became an operating room technician.

His next stop was Germany, where he was the only black member of the 566th surgical attachment. During that time, he attained the rank of staff sergeant.

While in Germany, Earl began to miss his childhood sweetheart, Shirley B. Lewis. They met on a blind date when he was only fifteen. He decided to come home for two days; he then proposed to Shirley and returned to Germany. After his discharge from the Army, Earl and Shirley were married in 1956. Their union was blessed with three children, Robin, Joannae, and Mike. Earl and Shirley had the privilege of being married for almost sixty years.

In February of 1957, Earl enrolled in the Police Academy. During his nine year tenure with the Baltimore Police Department, Earl received eleven commendations and two bronze stars for outstanding performance.

In 1965, after receiving a call from a Maryland State Senator, Earl resigned from the police department and became a Deputy United States Marshal. In 1974, he was promoted to Chief of the Prisoner Coordination Section. Shortly thereafter, he became Chief Deputy Marshal for the State of Maryland. Earl received numerous awards and citations from the Marshal Service. In 1989, he retired from the U.S. Marshal Service due to the mandatory retirement rule, at age fifty-five. Upon retiring from the U.S. Marshal Service, Earl became a proud member of the Retired U.S. Marshal Association.

During his retirement, Earl became somewhat of a "handyman," as well as a spending time working on his favorite purchase, his pool. The pool was very special to Earl! Every weekend he and Shirley welcomed family and friends for lots of fun, good food and water activities. There were many water volleyball games, poker, pinochle and board games such as Family Feud and Pyramid. On occasion, Earl had to jump into the pool with his clothes on to grab a child who fell or just decided to jump into the pool. Earl didn't like being inactive, so in 1991, he began working for the United Parcel Service (UPS) in the security division. He worked the evening shift for thirteen years.

Earl was a member of St. Louis Catholic Church since 1998. He was a loving and devoted husband and father. He had a tremendous love for God, family, friends, music and law enforcement service. His kindness, humility, courage and sense of humor will certainly be missed.

He left to cherish his memory, his devoted wife Shirley; children, Robin,Joanne and Mike, two sisters, Augustine and Bette; one brother Thomas (Elroy), one sister-in-law, Jean, two brothers-in-law, Golden (Sputs) and Bernard; six grandchildren, Marc, Jaylen, Tyeonna, Christine, Elon and Ceanna, a very special colleague and friend, Bob Banks, his "ace,' Renard Silver; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral Services were held on Friday, May 6, 2016 at St. Louis Roman Catholic Church with Rev. Msgr. Joseph L. Luca officiating.

Earl Joseph Brown, known affectionately as "Plump," was the 9th child of Sarah and George A. Brown, Sr. He was born on December 4, 1934. He was the youngest male in the family and was spoiled by all. He was called Plump or Plump because he was such a chubby baby. Earl was a good student in school; he attended St. Pius Catholic School in Baltimore. When he was in 5th grade, the principal felt he was doing so well academically that he should be promoted to the 6th grade. He graduated from the 8th grade with honors, and attended Frederick Douglass High School, which wasn't his first choice. He wanted to attend Loyola, but couldn't because he was black.

Earl's interest while he was in high school was chemistry and biology. He was also a member of the "Rifle Team." While attending Douglass, Earl worked part-time at his brother George's printing company, Varsity Press. he graduated from Douglass in February of 1952.

In an effort to fulfill a longtime ambition to become a surgeon, Earl enrolled at Morgan State College as a pre-med student. Fearfull that he was going to be drafted because of the Korean War, he decided to enlist in the United States Army. He had basic training at Camp Pickett in Virginia, where he was Acting Platoon Sergeant. A few weeks before he was set to go to Korea, the war ended. Earl requested the medical corp., and was sent to Brook Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, where he trained to be a surgical technician.

Upon completion of his training, he traveled to Valley Forge Army Hospital in Pennsylvania, where he became an OR Technician who scrubbed in with the surgeons. 

His next stop was Second General Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he was the only black member of the 566th surgical attachment. During that time, he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. His greatest memory of his experience in Germany was when he was allowed to "Special" a patient with bilateral renal failure from Germany to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C.

While in Germany, Earl started to miss childhood sweetheart, Shirley B. Lewis who he met while on a blind date when he was only 15. They were introduced by his nephew, Harold "Popo" Richardson, on Easter Sunday in 1949. Earl decided to come home for two days, he then proposed to Shirley and returned to Germany. In 1956, Earl and Shirley were married after his discharge from the Army. During this timeEarl began managing his brother George's service station. he began to meet and chat with many of the Baltimore City police officers. In February of 1957, Earl enrolled in the Police Academy. After successfully completing his probationary period, he still had the desire to pursue his career in medicine.

Earl went back to school at Morgan while working the midnight shift at the police department. With numerous arrests and morning court, he decided it was just too much and withdrew from Morgan again. At this point law enforcement was truly in his blood and he decided to make this his permanent career choice.

During his nine year tenure with the Baltimore City Police Department, Earl was one of the first black officers to be assigned to the Northwestern district, which was a predominantly white area of the city. Shortly after that, he became the first black officer in the entire department to be assigned to a uniform patrol car.

Earl received eleven commendations and two Bronze Stars for his outstanding performance. As a member of a "Special Felony Investigations Squad," Earl, Donald Thomas, and Forest Fox of the Northwest District became the first black officers to receive the Howard Park Optimist Club Policeman of the Year Award for making over 300 arrests in one year.

In 1965, after receiving a call from a Maryland State Senator, Earl resigned from the police department and became a Deputy United States Marshal. After serving two years as a Deputy, he accepted a position with the newly-formed Prisoner Coordination Division, at headquarters in Washington, D.C. In December of 1973, as assistant chief of the unit, he received the Attorney General Special Commendation for Outstanding Performance. In 1974, Earl was promoted by the U.S. Marshal Service Director to Chief of the Prisoner Coordination Section, where he headed the Pilot Prisoner Transport Program. This enabled the marshals to transport prisoners by airplane to Los Angeles and back to Maryland by bus.

Shortly thereafter, Earl became Chief Deputy Marshal for the State of Maryland. he worked for the U.S. Marshal Service for 24 years.

On June 2, 1989, a mentally unstable individual held a Federal Public Defender at gunpoint in front of the U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore, maryland demanding the public defender be arrested. Reacting with coolness under pressure and without regard to the danger to himself, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Earl J. Brown calmed and disarmed the assailant without physical violence or injury to any of those involved. On November 28, 1989, Earl received the Robert Forsyth Valor Award for his bravery. The award is the highest award that you can receive within the Marshal Service. The award is named after Robert Forsyth who was the first U.S. Marshal killed in the line of duty in 1789.

On December 29, 1989, Earl retired from the U.S. Marshal Service due to the mandatory retirement rule at age 55. Obviously, Earl received numerous awards from the Marshal Service. During his retirement, Earl became somewhat of a handyman, fixing things, putting new siding on the house with his brother-in-law, Jack Glaze, and spending time working on his favorite purchase, his swimming pool. The pool was very special to Earl because it was the place where a large part of his family got together almost every weekend for food, fun and exercise. There were many volleyball tournaments, Family Feud and Pyramid games, and some of the best eating anywhere.

Earl was always the designated lifeguard, sho on a few occasions had to jump in with his clothes on to grab a child who fell, or just jumped in the pool. Lunch was cooked on the grill, and dinner was usually potluck, or ordered from a nearby Dominoes or Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Earl couldn't stand being retired, so he started working for United Parcel Service (UPS) with his brother-in-law, Golden "Sputs" Roche, and his nephew, David Camak. Earl started there in 1991 in the Security Division. he worked the evening shift for 13 years before he retired.

Now Earl spends time with his wife, Shirley, of 56 years, his three children, Robin, Joanne, and Mike, and his grandchildren, Marc, Jaylen, Tyeonna, Christine, Elon, and Ceanna. However, he still works on different projects around the house. He loves watching Walker, Texas Ranger, Tarzan and David Foster. He also attends church on Sundays. He still works outside on his lawn, and if it weren't for the costly repairs, he would still have the pool up and running, and have family over during the summer months.

Story by Joanne (Brown) his daughter