Obituary: Gregory LaVaughn Brown, Esq.
A Life of Intellect, Service, Family and an Unforgettable Voice
Gregory LaVaughn Brown, Esq., was born on July 16, 1949, in Buffalo, New York, to Alfred and Velma Brown. The second of three sons, Greg was raised on Buffalo’s East Side, where his parents had settled after leaving Louisiana as part of the Great Migration of Black families who journeyed north in search of opportunity, dignity, and a better life. From those beginnings, Greg would grow into a man whose life was defined by intellect, purpose, service, family, and an unwavering belief in the power of his voice. His environment valued scholarship and intellectual achievement. There, he would later say, his “real” education began.
In 1963, he entered Bennett High School. During his senior year, he was elected Senior Class President, an early reflection of the leadership that would become a defining thread throughout his life. He was equally at home on the playing field, competing on Bennett’s varsity basketball team, which won two consecutive Yale Cup championships alongside the great Bob Lanier. He also played football and served as co-captain during his senior year.
His sense of civic responsibility emerged early. While still in high school, Greg volunteered on the political campaigns of Arthur Eve and Phillip Asbury. Even as a young man, he understood that education, community, leadership, and public service were threads of the same fabric. After graduating from Bennett in 1967, Greg received a scholarship to attend Brown University.
He arrived at Brown during a time of profound social and political transformation. The Vietnam War, the Black student movement, and the continuing struggle for civil rights were reshaping the nation. During those years, Greg found his voice and became increasingly determined to use his education, intellect, and considerable gifts in service to a more equitable world, particularly for people whose voices had too often been marginalized, as he had witnessed in the communities where he grew up. Greg was born with what could only be called the gift of gab, inherited from both of his parents, along with a remarkable ability to persuade, analyze, and debate. At Brown, he earned recognition for his sharp intellect and student leadership. He also continued to play sports, taking the field as a wide receiver on the varsity football team.
In 1971, Greg graduated from Brown with a degree in American History and soon set out to explore the wider world. After several years in California, he returned to his hometown of Buffalo. It was there that Greg met the woman who would become the love of his life, Yvonne James, a dancer, educator, and one of Buffalo’s beloved cultural icons. They married in 1979 and built a family together, welcoming two children, Damali and Ahmed. For 43 years, their lives were intertwined in love, partnership, family, and a shared commitment to their community, until Yvonne’s passing in 2022. Greg had long carried the dream of practicing law, and it was Yvonne who insisted that he pursue it. She saw clearly what he was capable of, and she would not let him leave that dream unfinished.
With Damali already born and Yvonne carrying the household on a teacher’s salary, Greg entered the University at Buffalo School of Law. He earned his law degree in 1987, sixteen years after graduating from Brown. For the rest of his life, he would say that Yvonne was the wind behind his sails. Greg began his private law practice and later joined the Erie County Department of Law as an Assistant County Attorney. In 1995, he was recruited to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney until his retirement in 2011.Yet the law was only one expression of Greg’s many gifts.
Throughout his career as a federal prosecutor, his love of sports remained a constant companion. First and always, he was a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan, loyal through every season the team gave him—the glorious ones and the heartbreaking ones alike. Greg also found another outlet for his voice through sports journalism. He wrote as a sports columnist for several newspapers, including serving as Sports Editor at the Buffalo Challenger and as a columnist for The Buffalo Criterion. His long-running column, “Cheap Shots,” at the Challenger was devoted to all those sports fans who didn’t know what they were talking about but reserved the right to talk about it anyway. His wit, humor, intelligence, and unmistakable voice were the signature of everything he wrote.
Retirement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not signal the end of Greg’s professional life or his service to others. He continued practicing law, led the Erie County Bar Foundation as Campaign Chair and later as its President, and served as an Administrative Law Judge with the New York State Liquor Authority. He was a member of the Bar Association of Erie County, the Minority Bar Association, and “The Brothers-in-Law.” In 2005, he received the Black Achiever’s Award in recognition of his contributions to the legal community. Greg was also a longtime member of St. John Baptist Church, where he served as a trustee and sang in the male chorus.
Greg moved through the world with a keen mind and a powerful voice, always ready to engage, debate, challenge, encourage, and, when the moment called for it, tell a good story. From Buffalo’s East Side to Brown University, from the courtroom to the sports page, his journey reflected a lifelong commitment to learning, service, family, community, and the conviction that our voices matter.
Greg leaves to cherish his memory his daughter, Damali (Will) Bond, and his son, Ahmed (Jordan) Brown. He is also survived by his brother, Calvin (Melissa) Brown, and a host of cherished nieces and nephews, including Heather Gresham, Esq.; Zahra (Derek) Nahar-Moore, Esq.; Nile (Irene) Nahar-Brown; and Cael and Chloë Brown.
He also leaves his great nieces and great-nephews Chinedu Isaiah and Amara Okoro; Liam and Layla Nahar Moore; and Jazz Luna Nahar Brown. And perhaps among his greatest joys were his three granddaughters, Zoé, Élise, and Juliette Bond, who brought immense delight to his later years.
His voice may be quiet now, but it is not gone. It carries forward in those who loved him, in those whose lives he influenced, and in every person who learned from his example that our words, our gifts, and our lives can become part of something greater than ourselves. May Gregory’s spirit rest in peace and may the legacy of his voice continue to speak. We love you.
The family will receive friends on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at St. John Baptist Church, 184 Goodell Street, Buffalo, New York 14204. A memorial service will follow at 12:00 p.m. Final resting place: Forest Lawn Cemetery.