Earl Joseph Brown, a retired federal marshal who was a familiar figure at the U.S. District Courthouse in Baltimore, died April 6 of complications from dementia at his Columbia home. He was 81.

Born in Baltimore and raised on Chesholm Road near Gwynns Falls Park, he was the son of George A. Brown Sr., a postal worker, and Sarah Brown, a homemaker.

He was known by his nickname “Plump” and attended the old St. Pius V School. He was a 1952 graduate of Frederick Douglass High School.

Family members said he was a good student in biology and chemistry and aspired to become a surgeon. He began premedical studies at what is now Morgan State University. While there, he enlisted in the Army and received training as a surgical technician.

He was assigned to the Valley Forge Army Hospital in Pennsylvania and became an operating room technician.

Family members said he was assigned to an Army post in Germany. He left military service as a staff sergeant.

He was 15 when he first met his future wife, Shirley B. Lewis, on a blind date. They attended a movie at the old Regent Theater on Pennsylvania Avenue. Family members said Mr. Brown missed her while he was overseas. He came home for a brief leave and proposed. They married in 1956.

After Mr. Brown returned to the city, he joined the Baltimore Police Department. He was assigned to the Northwestern District, where he received 11 commendations and two bronze stars for service. News articles from the period noted that he apprehended two burglars at a Read's drugstore at Park Heights Avenue and Cold Spring Lane.

In 1965, state Sen. Verda F. Welcome suggested that Mr. Brown become a deputy U.S. marshal. According to a family biography, he was promoted to chief of the federal Maryland Prisoner Coordination Section. He was later chief deputy marshal for Maryland and retired in 1989 at the mandatory retirement age.

Mr. Brown received numerous awards and citations from the U.S. Marshals Service.

After he retired, he became a home handyman and devoted hours to his in-ground swimming pool, which became the center of his extended family's weekend gatherings.

“Every weekend, he and Shirley welcomed family and friends for a lot of fun, good food and water activities. He was a lovable man dedicated to his family and his profession,” said his nephew, Mark G. Glaze of Ellicott City. “It was a ritual. After church, we would gather at his home, and there were volleyball, poker, pinochle and board games.

After three years of retirement, Mr. Brown joined the security division of UPS, working its evening shift. He retired a second time in 2004.

He was a member of the Retired U.S. Marshals Association.

Mr. Brown donated his body to science.

A Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. May 6 at St.?Louis Roman Catholic Church, 12500 Clarksville Pike in Clarksville.

Survivors include his wife of nearly 60 years, a retired Howard County administrative assistant; a son, Michael Brown, and two daughters, Robin Brown and Joanne Brown, all of Columbia; a brother, Thomas Elroy Brown of Baltimore; two sisters, Augustine Gloster-Sanders of Silver Spring and Bette Roche of Baltimore; and six grandchildren.

jacques.kelly@baltsun.com