Friday, February 28, 2025, 8:16AM |  38°
MENU
Advertisement
William J.W. Brown.
1
MORE

Obituary: William J.W. Brown, a longtime Pitt law professor who made tax law 'fun'

Obituary: William J.W. Brown, a longtime Pitt law professor who made tax law 'fun'

William J. Brown | June 7, 1938 - June 12, 2019

Anyone who thinks tax law can’t be fun probably didn’t have William J.W.  Brown as a professor.

The longtime Squirrel Hill resident so excelled at explaining the intricacies of federal and estate tax law to legions of attorneys-in-the-making at the University of Pittsburgh Law School that even those who had no intention of ever advising a client on such matters often ended up taking his upper level classes anyway, just to hear him teach.

“He was just so affable, and committed to what he was doing as a professor,” said  Larry Frolik of Oakland, a longtime friend and colleague.

Advertisement

Mr. Brown was so good, in fact, that at his retirement party in 2000, he discovered someone had anonymously donated $1 million to the school in his honor.

Yet it wasn’t just about the law. Described by friends as “serially maniacal,” the New York native continually discovered new passions over the years — and threw himself wholeheartedly into each and every one of them. 

A longtime runner, he ran his first marathon at 50 in Pittsburgh and continued to race until he was 79. He also loved to sail, collected art, wrote books, restored furniture, painted landscapes and was pretty good at wooden kayak- and model boat-building.

After buying 16 acres of woods in Rector, Westmoreland County, he even found the time to build a rustic lodge from a pair of dismantled buildings he found on the internet — one an 1840s log house and the other a hand-hewn timber structure from 1790. With his own hands, no less. 

Advertisement

He also rode his bike to work every day in a suit and tie, no matter the weather.

“He was just a man with a great love of life, and had such an enthusiasm for it,” said Mr. Frolik. 

Mr. Brown, of Squirrel Hill, died at home on June 12 after a long battle with cancer. He was 81.

He was born in Staten Island, the son and only child of his father, Alfred, an accountant, and his mother, Regina, who worked as a lawyer. He briefly studied pre-med at Seton Hall College before one of his professors, after seeing him debate, convinced him he showed an aptitude for the law.

After earning a degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law in 1963, he took a job with a law firm on Wall Street. To his mother’s dismay, it wouldn’t last; Catholic invited him back to teach, and he quickly discovered he loved it, said his wife of 35 years, Eliza Brown. 

In 1968, armed with a master of laws in taxation from Yale Law School, he moved to Pittsburgh to teach at Pitt,  specializing in federal, corporate and estate taxation. After he retired, he headed the graduate tax program at Duquesne’s business school for six years. He then went back to Pitt for three years, and after that spent about seven years as an adjunct at Duquesne’s law school and at Carlow University.

From the start, he proved extraordinarily popular with students, because he was able to turn a daunting subject into something enjoyable and exciting. Oftentimes, that meant running up the aisle with a microphone when someone had a question, his wife recalled.

“He’d come out of the classroom practically in a sweat,” she said. “It was almost like he was putting on a talk show.”

He brought that same child-like enthusiasm to his family life. He’d be in the middle of the hardware store or at the movies when he’d suddenly swoop his wife into his arms and start dancing.

“Not everybody saw that because he wasn’t as social as I am,” she said. “But to see him get excited over something was really a delight.” 

A bachelor until the age of 45, he became a father for the first time at 50. But his three children kept him young along with his students, said his wife, even as he battled cancer for almost two decades. Hodgkin lymphoma came first right after he retired, and then 13 years ago, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

His skill and charisma won him several teaching awards throughout his career and also made him a sought-out member for various committees. He also was deeply involved with the university senate.

“He was very realistic about the interplay between faculty and administration,” said Mr. Frolik, “but he believed that faculty involvement in government made a better university.”

When he wasn’t teaching, Mr. Brown loved to run and was also an experienced sailor. Some of his trips were quite long. Carl Katz, of Point Breeze, recalled sailing with Mr. Brown in the early 1980s aboard the classic Hinckley Bermuda 40 sailboat he’d just purchased, traveling from Maine to his future in-laws’ house on Maryland’s eastern shore. It took 10 days “because we were wimpy about it,” he said. 

Known for his witty sense of humor, his friend loved to laugh, Mr. Katz said, and never took himself too seriously. “We used to razz him that his jokes were terrible,” he said, “but he was a keen observer of life.”  

Don Sutton, of Squirrel Hill, also remembered his humility. Even though he was incredibly bright, he never put on airs or talked down to people as a lawyer, he said.

“And he had this tremendous enthusiasm,” said Mr. Sutton, which he saw time and again in the many races they did together over the years, even as they got older — and inevitably slower.

They were the last two runners to cross the finish line at his last race, the PNC Turkey Trot 5 Miler in 2017, but he relished the experience anyway with his trademark ardor, said Mr. Sutton. “He was just great fun to be with.”   

Mr. Brown fell away from his Catholic faith after his mother’s death in 1977, but eventually found his way back to the church. After he retired, he attended Mass every day and eventually become a lector. He was so humbled by the responsibility, said his wife, that he often was more nervous reading to a handful of congregants than teaching a class of 120 law students. He chronicled his journey in a 2017 memoir, “Canticle of Returning,” 

Mr. Brown also was a past president and longtime board member of the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services of Pittsburgh. Both he and his mother had hearing problems, and in his typical fashion, he wasn’t just satisfied to sit on the sidelines, said president and CEO Amy Hart. He made his commitment mean something by participating in countless events. In May, the center recognized his many contributions by presenting him with the Harlan J. Rozenzweig Appreciation Award.  

“He wasn’t just a name on the letterhead,” Ms. Hart said. “He got behind us 110 percent.”

In addition to his wife, Mr. Brown is survived by sons William Welsh Brown and Brendan Fergus Brown, of Pittsburgh, and a daughter, Regina Devlin Kennedy Brown, of Wallingford, Conn.

Friends will be received from 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at John A. Freyvogel Sons, 4900 Centre Ave., Shadyside. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Church, 310 Shady Ave., Shadyside,

Remembrances may be made to the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services of Pittsburgh.

Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.

First Published: June 17, 2019, 5:12 p.m.

RELATED
Comments Disabled For This Story
Partners
Advertisement
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic takes a timeout during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
1
sports
Penguins rally after Alex Nedeljkovic’s outburst, beat the Flyers in overtime
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, left, and general manager Omar Khan stand on the field before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
2
sports
2025 NFL salary cap will rise to $279 million. Here's what that means for the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Arthur Smith walks off the field after losing to the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore Ravens won 28-14.
3
sports
Joe Starkey: Was Steelers GM Omar Khan kidding with his Arthur Smith comments?
An example of a Real ID-compliant non-commercial driver's license in Pennsylvania.
4
news
The Real ID deadline is approaching. Here's what Pennsylvanians should know.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler delivers in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025.
5
sports
3 takeaways from Pirates’ lopsided spring training victory over Twins
William J.W. Brown.
Advertisement
LATEST news
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story