Federal employee union leader found dead at 47

National Federation of Federal Employees President Richard N. Brown died on Tuesday at the age of 47, according to the union.

Union officials credit Brown, who was elected in 1998, with turning around NFFE after a period of turmoil in the 1990s. Under his leadership, officials said, the 92-year-old union gained thousands of new members, established an affiliation with the International Association of Machinists and became an AFL-CIO member.

"He came in, and he really righted the ship at a time when we desperately needed it," said Randy Erwin, the union's legislative director. "By any measure, he did a fantastic job."

A union staffer found Brown unresponsive in his Arlington, Va., apartment on Tuesday afternoon, after he failed to arrive at work. The Arlington County police department could not provide further information on his death.

Erwin said Brown gave his employees freedom and authority, and earned their trust and friendship over the years.

"We all had more than a professional relationship with him," Erwin said. "So, he's going to be missed on a whole lot of different levels."

Matt Biggs, legislative director of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, said Brown helped turn NFFE into a union with clout in the policymaking arena on Capitol Hill. "He wore his emotions on his sleeve, and his emotions were always on the side of working people," Biggs said.

"I only knew Rick for a short time, but his dedication shone through in our work together on issues that matter deeply to federal employees and working people everywhere," said Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry. "He will be forever remembered as a smart, tough and passionate employee advocate." Most recently, Berry had dealt with Brown on pay reform for federal workers.

A construction worker and machinist, Brown worked his way up through the NFFE local at the U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal, becoming its president in 1993. He served as a national vice president for NFFE before his election as president in 1998.

Brown, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., graduated from Hudson Valley College in Troy, N.Y., according to the NFFE's Web site.

NFFE Secretary-Treasurer William Dougan will lead the union for the rest of Brown's term, which was scheduled to end in 2012, Erwin said.