The MTD mourns the passing of the department’s longtime assistant
Frances Brown-McNair. 74. She had been battling a debilitating illness
for years.
Brown-McNair came to the MTD in the 1980s after working as a staffer
for the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. She served two
MTD presidents — Michael Sacco and the late Frank Drozak — as well
as three MTD secretary-treasurers — Daniel Duncan, the late Frank
Pecquex and the late Jean Ingrao. She also worked with the Seafarers
International Union, from which she retired in 2016.
“Frances could fill a room with her smile,” recalled Sacco. “She was
bright, energetic and full of life.”
Duncan remembered that Brown-McNair ran the 2013 MTD Convention in Los
Angeles when he had to return home for a family emergency. “You knew
you could count on her to do whatever job she undertook. She was full
of joy, but she also knew when the situation required dedication and
seriousness.”
One person who knew her on Capitol Hill and at the MTD, lobbyist
Emanuel Rouvelas, said, “She was a truly amazing, funny, classy and
wise lady.”