By:KEITH GRANT
Thomas J. Browne, a Long Beach native who rose through the ranks to become police commissioner, lost a long battle with cancer on Sunday, dying peacefully in his home. He was 57.
Browne joined the police force in 1973. He became commissioner in 1995, serving for almost five years before his illness became too great a burden for him to continue working.
Before a moment of silence at the Tuesday night City Council meeting, Council President Joel Crystal said of Browne, "He served the city with dignity and valor, and fought a very difficult battle with cancer."
Browne worked his way up from patrolman to become one of the most influential top men the department has seen. As a proponent of community policing, Browne introduced a proactive team-police concept to Long Beach's various neighborhoods. Some of his innovations included the Bicycle Patrol, Domestic Violence Unit and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education School Program.
Browne owned an education in Criminal Justice Management from Northeastern University, Crime Prevention Training with the Municipal Police Training Council and had attended the prestigious Law Enforcement Executive Development Training, hosted by the FBI at Princeton University.
Before ascending to commissioner, he held the positions of commanding officer of the Crime Prevention Unit and commanding officer of the Uniformed Force. He had also been an active member of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, serving as vice president and president.
Commissioner Ken Cohen said his predecessor was a very progressive police officer who was deeply involved with furthering community involvement by the department. But mostly, Browne was "just a tremendous guy," Cohen said.
"He was a credit to any police department, and his church. He was well liked and just a gentleman all the time. It's a deep loss to the community. He was very involved in making Long Beach a better place to live."
Raised on Rochester Avenue in East Atlantic Beach, Browne grew up as a consummate West Ender, where recreation activities consisted of jumping roofs, hitching on cars, and sitting in Mammie Stein's consuming a Coke and pretzels, while choking on Eddie Karthouse's cigar smoke. It's said that Kay Browne once said of her son, "My son Tommy is the best boy in Long Beach."
After going through the local schools, Browne served as a flight engineer in the Air National Guard and was a member of Carpenters Local Unit 950 before joining the police department. Friends said he never aspired to be commissioner. Rather, he just did each and every job to the best of his abilities.
He and his wife Kathleen raised two children in Long Beach, Christine O'Driscoll and Patrick Browne. Kathleen, though, lost her own battle with cancer in 1994 after 25 years of marriage, just before Browne's rise to the head of the police.
Sometime later, Browne asked recently-divorced Jeanne Evrard to join him at a local Democratic function. According to her brother, Tom Evrard, Jeanne agreed, but made clear that she was not prepared to begin dating at the time. Eventually, that's exactly what happened and the couple married almost three years ago.
"It was a great love story," Evrard said. "They went everywhere together. They were in Disney World two months ago."
At the time of their marriage, Browne was already sick, having been diagnosed with cancer during his first year as commissioner. Surgery removed part of his esophagus, but Browne continued to serve the department until 1999, when he knew the disease was getting the best of him.
According to friends, the disease took its toll physically, but never got the best of Browne's spirit.
"He refused to stop living," Evrard said. "He even bought himself a new Jaguar. The guy was so full of determination."
During treatment, Browne fought "like you wouldn't believe," Evrard added. And when things finally became bleak, Evrard said his brother-in-law "wasn't morbid, he wasn't isolated. It was fun to be with him even in his sickness."
Carolyn Roganti, longtime secretary to the police commissioner, said she saw her former boss at his home just a week ago. They had often lunched together each month since his retirement, and Roganti called to ask if he wanted her to bring lunch to his house that day. Browne asked for soup and a hot dog, of which he could eat only half. But he enjoyed every minute of the company.
"He was just a wonderful human being," Roganti said. "He cared for his fellow man. He always went that extra mile for people."
When Roganti recently lost her father, Browne -- even in sickness -- went an extra mile for her.
"Tom came over and spent two hours with me at the funeral home. That's the kind of man Tom Browne was."
Browne was a member of St. Ignatius Martyr Parish, Chamber of Commerce, Arthritis Foundation and American Cancer Society. He was honored with the Community Service Award from the Long Beach Catholic School Crystal Ball in 1996. He was also active in the Ancient Order of Hibernians, serving as Grand Marshal of the 1998 Irish Day Parade.
In addition to his widow, Browne is survived by son Patrick; daughter and son-in-law Christine and Denis O'Driscoll; granddaughter Erin Kathleen, and siblings Patricia Guterding, Kathleen Klein, Richard Browne, Clarence Browne and Mary Hynes.
Viewing was at Macken's Funeral Home in Rockville Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday. A Mass was scheduled at St. Ignatius Church at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 5, with interment following at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury
The family requests donations in Browne's memory be sent to Memorial Sloan-Kettering at 1275 York Ave., New York, N.Y.
