Donald Loring Brown

Donald Loring Brown (December 15, 1944, Millis, MA – January 16, 2026, Canton, MA) passed away peacefully in hospice after a months-long health battle. Brown was an extraordinary man and loving father who lived a full life. Don grew up in the greater Boston area and, after dropping out of high school, found a path as an athlete, first as a semi-professional football player and then as a baseball player in the Los Angeles Angels minor league system. He served briefly in the Marine Corps until an injury during training led to a medical discharge in 1962.

Throughout his life, Don worked many different jobs and overcame significant personal setbacks. He worked for his family’s landscaping business, started several small businesses in the medical practice management field, was a community college professor, worked as a taxi and delivery driver, and had an impactful career as an attorney.

Beginning in his late 30s, Don restarted his education and graduated from Mount Wachusett Community College (1983), Amherst College (1986), and finally Harvard Law School (1989). Donald’s law school professor David Wilkins shared the following with The Boston Globe in a 2012 feature: “The thing that stuck out the most about him then is the same thing that sticks out about him now, which is his incredible passion for trying to do good in the world.’’

Don opened his own law firm in Dorchester and was best known for his work on behalf of community members who were victims of predatory mortgage lending in the Boston area in the late 1980s. In 1997, he set out to walk across the country, which was a personal goal after he lost the ability to walk when he suffered a workplace accident in his 30s. He raised funds for numerous charities under the auspices of the nonprofit he co-founded, Walking for Charity. During that effort he succeeded in walking from the Charles River Esplanade on July 4, 1997, all the way to California, averaging 40 miles a day. He published his memoir The Morphine Dream in 2013, co-authored with Gary D. Chafetz, and dedicated much of his time in his later years to sharing his story to help others pursue their own dreams. Don’s greatest legacy is his generous spirit, which lives on in his sons, and his refusal to be limited by what was expected of him.

Don’s joys were spending time with loved ones and friends, reading, writing, helping others, enjoying time with his dachshunds, and cheering for the Red Sox and Patriots. His baseball road trips, travel to Europe and Honduras, and inspiring in his sons a love of reading and history were also cherished pastimes.

Donald is survived by his sons Nicholas Alexander Brown-Cáceres of Bowie, MD, and Louis Mitchell Brown of Leominster, MA, their respective spouses, Christopher Neuhaus and Erin Brown, and his six granddogs; his sister Nancy Brown Pawlyshyn of Doylestown, PA; and beloved nieces and nephews in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and California. He is also survived by two daughters from a previous marriage, and a grandson. Don was the son of Loring Adrian Brown (1913-1958) and Anita Katherine Butterfield Brown (1918-1991).

Don will be laid to rest in a private family gathering. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his honor to support student scholarships at Mount Wachusett Community College (Scholarship General Fund), Amherst College (Select Amherst Fund for Scholarship & Financial Aid), or Harvard Law School (Select JD Financial Aid). Cards may be sent to the Brown-Cáceres family at 1707 Pinecone Ct., Bowie, MD 20721.

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