Alma Brown, widow of former Commerce secretary, dies at 76

WASHINGTON — Alma Brown, the widow of Ron Brown, who served as Commerce secretary under President Bill Clinton, has died, a family friend said. She was 76.

Brown died Sunday at a hospital in Washington, 20 years to the day after her husband was killed in a plane crash while on a trade mission to Croatia, said Flo McAfee, a longtime friend who is acting as a spokeswoman for the family.

Ron and Alma Brown were known as longtime allies and defenders of Clinton. Alma Brown was a civic leader in Washington who advocated on behalf of vulnerable children and rural women through organizations including the National Black Child Development Institute, the National Council of Negro Women and the National Urban League, for which she served as board vice chairman.

She began her career as an educator and later worked as director of public affairs for a Washington radio station and as a vice president of Chevy Chase Bank.

“Alma devoted her life to her family and doing good and she encouraged her family and friends to do the same. She and Ron were quite a team,” Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement. “We were so lucky to have her in our lives.”

She’s survived by a son, a daughter and four grandchildren. Her son, Michael A. Brown, a former D.C. Council member, is serving a three-year sentence for bribery at a federal prison camp in Alabama.