Memorials
Bob Roen interview with Mouthpiece Sports
 Bob Roen, Mike's heart recipient, has made it his mission in life to talk to as many people as possible about becoming organ donors. On November 11, 2008, six days before Mike's 24th birthday, Bob spoke at New Trier High School in Illinois.
"I continue to share the Mike Jr. story with high school kids, college students, civic groups and anyone else that invites me to speak," says Bob. "I do it to help keep his memory alive. It makes me feel good and it may spur someone to become an organ and tissue donor. I have worn through two pictures of Mike, Jr. over the past six years showing his face to the audience."
"Well last Tuesday, I was asked to speak at New Trier High School in Winnetka. I was accompanied by two Chicago Bears players. They got the kids in the door and I spoke. After the assembly we were interviewed by Fox News. They used the part of the interview with one of the Bears for TV, but I didn't make the cut. We were also interviewed by mouthpiecesports.com and you can view that interview online."
Bob was at New Trier High School as part of a presentation of Youth for Life, an organization created to remember Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears. Click on the image above to view the interview. It is a great one.
LOFS Little League Field Dedication
 On
the opening day of Lakes
of the Four Seasons Little League, May 3, 2003, the
Major/Minor field at Cleveland Park was dedicated in Mike's
memory.
Mike was a LOFS player from T-Ball
to Junior League. He umpired games and when he was finished
with Little League, he returned as a District One Certified
Umpire. Mike played on many All-Star teams from Minors
to Majors. The LOFS Board of directors decided that
dedicating the field would honor “Mikey” for all
he did for LOFS as a player and volunteer. The first
pitch of the 2003 season was thrown out by Mike's brother
Ryan.
Opening Day Video
A very moving video of the dedication and first-day
festivities was produced by the LOFS Little League Information
Officer, Erik Mazure. He has graciously allowed us
to make that video and viewing instructions available on this
site. If you would like to view it, follow the directions
below:
To
view the video you will need Windows Media Player installed.
Most computers already come with Media Player, but
if yours doesn't you can download the player for free by
clicking here.
Be sure to turn up the volume on your speakers!
For
broadband
You should have no difficulties in viewing the video after
several seconds of downloading.
For dial-up connections
Click the video link/picture and then go get a cup
of coffee or something. Come back when the whole video
is downloaded and click play to play the video from the
beginning. If you still have problems viewing the video
(stops or skips), download the video to your hard drive
and then play it. (See directions below.)
Play video from your hard drive
 You
can also save your own copy of the video to your hard drive
by right-clicking the picture and selecting "Save Target
As". After that play the video from your hard
drive location for optimum performance.
If the video stops and starts during play, that's because
your modem is too slow. Either wait till the whole
thing is downloaded and play it again or right-click and
select "Save Target As." Save the file to your
desktop so you can easily find it. Once downloaded, just
double click the file icon and it should bring up the Windows
Media Player and begin playing without any difficulties.
Editorials
Crown Point Star - July 31, 2003
by Allison Buell
Lauren Angel doesn't know exactly what she wants to do with
the rest of her life but after last Tuesday she has an extra
hand to help guide her.
The recent Crown Point High School graduate is definitely
going to enroll at Indiana University in Bloomington in a
few short weeks. Angel is interested in studying journalism
law. She has a strong background in journalism, having been
one of the editors of the high school yearbook. She is also
deeply involved in theater.
The possibilities for this 18-year-old -- and the other six
graduated seniors who received the first Michael Brown Jr.
Scholarships on July 22 -- are endless.
The scholarships -- two $1,000 awards and five $500 awards
-- were given by the family of Michael Brown Jr., a member
of Crown Point's Class of 2002 who died in an automobile accident
last September.
Mike's parents -- Mike Sr. and Kim -- wanted a way to keep
their son's memory alive. They've succeeded with a highly
successful golf out, which took place July 13, through the
scholarship fund and through various donations to community
organizations that Mike held dearly to his heart.
Angel, Megan Reid, Brian Murphy, Allison Isailovich, Matt
Mahoney, Nicole Smoljan and Wendy Kurcz weren't members of
Mike's graduating class. This group was a year behind Mike.
But Angel had an art class with Mike and her locker stood
close to his. In a school with more than 2,000 students, it's
difficult to know everyone of your immediate classmates, let
along your schoolmates. But Mike made a lasting impression
on Angel and hundreds, if not thousands of people in his 18
years of life.
 Mike
was mature beyond his years, as comfortable in the presence
of adults as with his peers. Even I brushed shoulders with
the young man, having officiated a few junior high basketball
games with him a couple winters ago. I don't remember
every official I've worked with over the years, but Mike made
an impression.
During a timeout, I asked Mike how long he had been officiating,
and he told me "about a year or so." He said he
was a senior at Crown Point and had taken Tom May's officiating
class.
I couldn't believe Mike was a high school student.
The way he held himself, his poise, his maturity; I knew
this young man would make a difference some day. I didn't
know until after his death that Mike had already begun making
an impact, working with youth basketball leagues, baseball
leagues and the Crown Point Civil Defense.
As I watched the sun fall over Pheasant Valley Golf Course
during the scholarship presentation, I wondered why such a
brilliant life, so full of potential, had to set so soon.
The pride in the eyes of the scholarship winners belied the
lingering sadness of the Browns' loss, the initial fears of
going to college, the apprehensions of adulthood. Where exactly
will I become and how will I get there?
Mike had a strong sense of what he would become and a zealous
plan of action.
His parents and siblings -- Ryan and Kendall -- are bound
to keep Mike's dreams alive so that they may be realized by
Crown Point High School graduates and Crown Point community
members years down the road.
The Browns have started with an exceptional group of scholarship
winners, a group that will surely take a piece of Mike with
them through their college careers and wherever they end up
in the world. And that's a wonderful living memory.
Crown Point Star - October 3, 2002
If you scan the obituaries on a regular basis in the local
newspapers, you may have come across the death of an 18-year-old
man from Crown Point, who left this life on September 20 in
an untimely car accident. His name was Mike Brown. What no
obituary can tell you is what a remarkable young man he was.
Mike touched a very large circle of friends and acquaintances
that extended out much further than his devoted family --
Mike Sr., Kim, Ryan and Kendall -- ever knew. He served as
a proud member of the  Crown
Point Civil Defense and was a youth basketball referee, coach
and Little League umpire. Hundreds and hundreds of mourners
waited in line to give the family Mike loved so much, their
condolences. No matter how long or how little they had known
Mike, each and every one of them was greatly affected. This
young man simply made the type of impression not easily forgotten.
Mike, who graduated from Crown Point High School this past
June, had tremendous promise. To a person who knew him, the
remarks were constant: "kind", "funny",
"special", "completely directed", "full
of potential" and most definably, "a great kid."
He was the kind of young man you hoped your daughter would
marry, or your son would grow up to be.
Mike's ambitions were solidly in the direction that reflected
his character. He wanted to work in law enforcement, and as
he told me at his open house this past July, he was planning
a career with the FBI or Secret Service. Anyone who knew Mike
never doubted for a moment he would attain his goals, and
we are all sad that we will never be able to see his joy in
fulfilling them. His ambition was to serve and protect, and
in the end, he performed the ultimate service by passing along
the gift of life to at least four individuals who were waiting
for life-saving transplants.
Brownie had a strong circle of friends who reflected his ideals
and character. It is hard for these young people to make sense
of the loss of such a special person so close to themselves.
But it is important for them to remember that as much as Mike
believed in his own dreams, he also believed in his friends
and their dreams as well. The greatest testament they can
make to his memory is to become everything he believed they
would be. Mikey would expect nothing less.
Crown Point, you have lost one of your best and brightest
sons. I thought you should know.
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