Thursday, October 1, 2026
Whether through his service in the U.S. Navy, the Long Beach lifeguards or the Long Beach Lifeguard Alumni Association, Lynn Brown has long believed in serving his community.
His story begins on Lincoln Boulevard and Beech Street. Starting in 1969, Brown patrolled the beaches as a member of the Lifeguard Patrol’s West and Central crews. As a youngster, he grew up idolizing local lifeguards like Jack Murphy, Randy Dodd, George Schilling and Jean and John Carbona.
“My skills as a leader really started with those guys,” Brown, 73, said. “They really molded me into who I am as a lifeguard and a person, the way they gave back to the community.”
One memorable rescue took place near Edwards Boulevard. From the lifeguard chair, Bernie Birne, a future East Crew captain, spotted man in the ocean with his hand raised for help.
“I remember Bernie telling me to go,” Brown said. “And I just went.”
When he wasn’t on the beach, Brown played lacrosse at Long Beach High School, and was a member of the school’s Nassau County champion swim team in 1971. During his school days, he crossed paths with Sherman Brown — no relation — the first African American lifeguard in Long Beach. An All-State wrestler and football player, Sherman Brown set an admirable example that Lynn Brown did his best to follow.
“He was an amazing individual,” Lynn Brown said. “He taught me respect.”
Brown went on to swim for a semester at SUNY Cortland before shifting his focus. In 1972, he enlisted in the Navy. His father, Joseph Brown, had served as an aviation gunner’s mate second class in World War II, aboard the USS Gambier Bay. He told tell Lynn stories about the war, including when the Japanese vessel Yamato sank the Gambier Bay. Despite having been hit by three gunshots, Joseph, wearing a life preserver, survived in the water with his comrades for 49 hours.
Listening to those stories motivated Lynn Brown to enlist. “I really wanted to join the Navy, because my dad was in it,” he said.
Toward the end of the Vietnam War, when he received his draft number, he was sworn in at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. He served as a petty officer third class above the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy for a year before spending another five years in the reserves.
In 2005, Brown founded Secure Access and Digital Systems, now on Park Avenue in Long Beach. The company provides access control, ID card systems, visitor management and CCTV to clients across the country, including the New York Stock Exchange, Madison Square Garden and the Sphere in Las Vegas.
“We also do the [Long Beach] beach passes, and have government and hospital contracts,” Brown said.
When the Long Beach Lifeguard Alumni Association was founded in 2009, Brown became its treasurer. Over the past 17 years he has managed the growth of the organization’s funds from $600 to over $15,000. He oversees fundraisers and scholarships, often posting calls to action in the association’s newsletter, which reaches more than 600 former lifeguards.
Last year, Brown helped secure funding for flotation collars that will be added to the lifeguard patrol’s fleet of personal watercraft this summer.
Dan Michaelis, the association’s vice president, has known Brown since they were lifeguards together in 1976. Michaels said there isn’t a retired lifeguard who doesn’t know the treasurer.
“Lynn has done a great job driving our fundraisers,” Michaelis said. “He’s been invaluable, using his business sense and contacts to help us and the community.”
Brown stepped away from the treasurer’s role on April 7, following the association’s recent election, but will remain active as a member of the association’s executive committee. In a statement, President Michael DeLury thanked him for his service.
“Lynn has been the association’s treasurer since its founding,” DeLury said. “He did a fantastic job managing a broad range of successful fundraising initiatives, and we look forward to whatever he’ll accomplish next.”
