Ralph E. Brown III, Retired Boston Globe Editor, Served as Unitarian Universalist Parish Vice President and Board Member

Ralph E. Brown III, a retired Boston Globe technology editor, passed away on February 4, 2026, at the age of 81. He was a member of First Parish in Hingham, Unitarian Universalist, and served as vice president of the parish from 2010 to 2012. His involvement with the Unitarian Universalist community extended to the Ballou Channing district of the Unitarian Universalist Association, where he served as secretary from 2013 to 2015.

Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Ralph was the son of Ralph E. Brown, Jr., M.D., and Louise Taylor Remick. He graduated from high school in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in 1962, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Boston in 1972. He pursued coursework for a master’s degree in journalism at Stanford University in 1973 but began his career as a reporter at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, before completing his degree.

Ralph served as a photographer in the U.S. Air Force from 1965 to 1969, spending 18 months in Thailand and Vietnam during the Vietnam War. A photograph of his, showing USAF Col. Robin Olds carried on the shoulders of his fellow fliers as he returned from his 100th mission as a fighter pilot, became a notable part of his legacy. This image accompanied his obituary and the cover of a biography by his daughter.

After leaving The Berkshire Eagle, Ralph worked for Atex, Inc., a company that developed newspaper publishing systems, as a trainer and product manager. He joined the Boston Globe in 1993 as a systems editor, managing the relationship between reporters, editors, and photographers and the computer systems they used to produce the paper. He also managed the Globe’s type library. Ralph retired from the Globe in 2009 and took on part-time work at the Apple Store in Hingham before resigning in 2011 to embark on a six-week road trip to California.

Ralph is survived by his niece, Holly E. Brown, of Sunnyvale, California; his nephew, Jesse T. Brown of Oakland, California; and his partner, Nan Doyle of Cambridge and Hull. He was predeceased by his cousins Holly MacLean and Susan Russell of Worcester; and Vicki Caleb of Evanston, Illinois. His brother, Geoffrey, died in 2006, and his sister, Sarah Ivanov, died in 2012. His life reflected a commitment to community, service, and the pursuit of knowledge, embodying the values of connection and purpose that resonate with the teachings of Micah 6:8.

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