FROM OUR PRINTED JAN 1, 2021 EDITION
Gordon “Gordy” “Little Man” Brown, native of New Bedford, died Dec. 11, 2020. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Brown of New Bedford and brother of Phyllis Brown Macomber of Wallingford, Conn. who predeceased him. He leaves a son Barry and grandchildren Corey and Breanna, and nieces and nephews.
Mr. Brown was well-known in country music circles having been a part-time DJ on radio stations WNBH AM-FM in New Bedford in the late 1950s before moving to the Boston area after graduating from New Bedford High School in 1959 to work at WNAC AM (now WRKO), WNAC-FM-TV Channel 7 and the Yankee Network in the Engineering and Production Departments.
A collector of country music, he became an historian, founding the New England Country Music Historical Society in late 1989.
Brown was inducted into the state Country Music Halls in Missouri Valley, Iowa and the Mass. Country Music Awards Association in 2002, into the N.H. Hall of Fame in 2009 and was made an Honorary Member of the CMA of R.I. Hall of Fame in 2015.
A Vietnam era U.S. Army Veteran, he was a member/historian of the American Legion Post 440 in Newton, Mass.; Lifetime Member of VFW Post 10334 in Waltham, Mass.; member of the Military Museum at Ft. Taber/Ft. Rodman in New Bedford, Mass.; past associate member, Pvt. Shutt Det., Marine Corps League, Watertown, Mass.; past member AmVets Post 14, Watertown, Mass.; the Historical Society of Watertown, Mass.; and he installed displays of Waltham’s Legends of Country Music in the Waltham, Mass. Museum. Gordy was also a former WRKO technician, and his passing was included in the WRKO Alumni Association’s Facebook page.
Gordy was a Boston Broadside ambassador, introducing the newspaper to many members of the Newton community in his monthly voluntary distribution of the paper in multiple locations in the city, including at the American Legion Post 440. “I met him when he was selling books as a fundraiser for veterans at a Newton American Legion event,” Boston Broadside publisher Lonnie Brennan remarked. “We became instant e-mail pen-pals. He helped out a lot on various articles and it was an honor to feature him multiple times in the Broadside. I guess I thought, despite his illnesses, God would bless us with his presence for many more years. It’s very sad. Blessings to his son and family.”
“He handed us a torch that was lit with pride, purpose, and patriotism to carry on,” Newton’s Sons of the American Legion Post 440 Jr. Vice Commander Dave Snyder remarked on the passing of Gordy. “Heaven gains another giant.” ♦
