2/4/10
Barbara Brown is looking to have a lot more spare time on her hands. The longtime park commissioner has decided not to seek re-election to the board position she has held for 15 years. At the same time, she is retiring from her position as executive assistant at Wollaston Golf Club, which she has held almost twice as long. “I just felt like it was time to step down and allow the younger people to step in, maybe the people who have young kids that are involved in the programs,” Brown said of her decision to leave the Board of Park Commissioners. “It is a commitment, in order to do it right. You can kind of just sit there and not do anything, but if you want to do a job and do it right, you have to commit yourself. So I think 15 years was enough of that.”
Her decision to also leave her “day job” at the golf club, where she has worked for almost 29 years, comes from a desire to spend more time at her second home on the Cape, and more time with her 5-year-old granddaughter, Grace.
Throughout her time on the board, the park commissioners have tackled some big issues, not the least of which includes seeing all six town schools rebuilt or renovated, as well as the ball fields associated with them. Brown wanted to make sure she finished that project and felt the time had come to call it a career in politics.
And that part of her life has been an important one for her, as she comes from a long line of dedicated, civic-minded town advocates. Her father, Daniel E. Duggan Jr., was the town assessor for 40 years. Her grandfather, Daniel E. Duggan Sr., was a selectman in Milton for over three decades, and according to family lore, the first of Irish descent in town politics. He served on the board from 1934 to 1967.
“It was always pretty much a Yankee town back then, and as someone said, ‘They haven’t stopped coming!’” Brown laughed.
Another relative – her father’s cousin, Joe Duggan – was chairman of the School Committee at the same time her father was chairman of the Board of Assessors, and her grandfather was chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
“They sort of ruled the roost. …But they did make a commitment, and I’d like to think the town’s better off for it. Milton means a lot to us,” said Brown, whose son, Dan Brown, is a Milton police sergeant.
Brown’s colleagues on the Park Board would agree that she also made a commitment to the town, as she held her position with passion.
“The town is losing a true public servant,” said Park Commissioner John Davis, who has served with Brown for almost her entire term. “She never had political aspirations. She never had a political agenda. She was all about the kids and the parks, and the town of Milton.”
As Brown also thought about her retirement from Wollaston, she mentioned the fondness she has for many of the members she got to know over the years. Beginning as a waitress at the club, she worked her way up to the executive office, where she has been a liaison between the membership and the general manager, as well as having many other duties along the way.
“I just hope on my last day [Jan. 29] I can make it to my car without crying,” she added.
In the immediate future, she will be helping her husband, Paul Brown, recover from approaching knee surgery. Then she plans to play a lot of golf herself.
Those interested in running for the vacancy on the park board should contact Town Clerk James Mullen at Town Hall. Filing papers for all political offices, which are available, are due March 9.

– Kathy Kurtz Ferrari