In Memoriam

The Loss of a Dear Friend and AML Founding Member of the Board
In Memory of Larry Brown

AML Founding Member of the Board of Directors, our friend and mentor, Larry Brown, passed away on August 18, 2009. My husband Jeff and I have known Larry for several years and feel absolutely blessed to call him our friend. Our lives have been deeply enriched by his presence. Larry was the embodiment of integrity. He would often say to me: "Integrity is the essence of all things successful," a quote from R. Buckminster Fuller.

Larry was an adoptive father and shared my passion about adoption. He loved baseball and he loved his son, Christopher. And so, perhaps it is fitting that Larry slipped away while attending a Washington Nationals baseball game with his son.

Once at our home in Santa Fe, on a starlit night, Larry commented on the brightness and clarity of the stars in our New Mexico sky. The only thing I have ever seen that rivaled those stars were the sparkly blue eyes of Larry Brown. I will see those eyes, now, every time I gaze at the stars above me.

Larry believed in AML, in our vision, and in our mission. He is a tremendous part of the success we have achieved, to date, and his teachings will guide our success in the future. In his honor, we will move forward with integrity and an unending desire to make the world of adoption a better place. We will not waver! Godspeed Larry. We will miss you.

Larry Brown was a founding member of the Positive Deviant network, and served as a Trustee of America’s Promise. He managed the design and delivery of WAVE’s training and program development activities for 28 years. With degrees in psychology and law from Boston College and Suffolk University Law School respectively, Mr. Brown brought a unique background to this field of work. He previously worked as a Director of Planning and Development and later Executive Director of Youth and Family Resources, Inc., an adolescent drug treatment program. He was also a supervisor and Director at a number of other youth development agencies.

And now in closing, I ask that you please say a prayer for Larry's wife and their son, during this time of tremendous loss.

— Michelle Branch

 Donations in Larry's memory can be made to WAVE using the following link:
http://www.waveinc.org/intro/donors/LarryBrown.html