John Brown III, who chaired the Maryland Stadium Authority and founded the popular RJ Bentley’s restaurant and bar in College Park, died Nov. 9 of heart failure. He was 77.

In 1978, Brown joined Richard MacPherson and Bill Knight to open a restaurant along Route 1. They purchased O’Briens Pit Barbecue, housed in a former auto repair shop, and decorated it with antique gas pumps, old license plates and Pennzoil signs. They named the restaurant “RJ Bentley’s” after the initials of Brown and MacPherson’s first names and the British luxury car. The restaurant was marketed as an upscale yet affordable spot.

“You don’t replace a John Brown in your life,” said former Maryland men’s basketball coach Gary Williams. “Those people come around once in a while, and it’s not like you can say, ‘OK, let me move on to the next friend.’ John was John.”

Johnny Holliday, Maryland’s longtime football and basketball broadcaster, called Brown “the unofficial mayor of College Park.”

“I don’t think I’ve met anybody as gracious as John was — even with people he didn’t know when they came to Bentley’s,” Holliday said.

Maryland men’s basketball coach Kevin Willard recalled having his first beer as coach at RJ Bentley’s. “You talk to anybody that has ever had anything to do with Maryland basketball — John Brown’s been a supporter, a fan, a confidante,” he said after the team’s Nov. 11 win over Florida A&M.

Brenda Frese, Maryland women’s basketball coach, also expressed condolences via X, calling Brown a longtime supporter of her program.

The restaurant was often mentioned on ESPN broadcasts by analysts like Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas and anchor Scott Van Pelt, a Maryland alum. But Williams said the attention never changed Brown. “As Bentley’s got more and more successful, John was always John,” he said.

Brown’s generosity extended beyond the restaurant. Holliday recounted receiving a get-well card and call from Brown after being hospitalized in 2003 and his grandson’s cancer diagnosis in 2009. “He was a giant among men,” Holliday said.

Brown served on the Maryland Stadium Authority starting in 1995, becoming chair in 1999. During his tenure, M&T Bank Stadium hosted its first Army-Navy football game in 2000.

Born in Whiteville, North Carolina, Brown grew up on a farm, picking tobacco and selling boiled peanuts. After his father died when he was 13, his mother moved the family to Chapel Hill. He worked as a dishwasher, waiter and lifeguard and briefly attended the University of North Carolina before enlisting in the Army. As a sergeant, he oversaw logistical operations in London before returning to the U.S. to enroll at the University of Maryland.

Brown graduated in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in business and worked as a management consultant for Booz-Allen & Hamilton, scouting Metro sites for Prince George’s County. He later studied urban transit systems with the Institute of Transportation and Regional Planning.

In addition to his restaurant, Brown was managing partner of the College Park Professional Center, president of the Downtown College Park Management Authority, and chair of the Government Relations Committee of the Restaurant Association of Maryland. He also served on the boards of the Maryland Business School Alumni Chapter and the University of Maryland Alumni Association and was president of the Terrapin Club.

Brown is survived by his wife, Keene Barroll; his former wife, Susan Brown; three children; two stepchildren; and seven grandchildren. A celebration of life is planned for Dec. 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at RJ Bentley’s.

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