California: In Memory of the Honorable Frank Brass

IN MEMORY OF THE HONORABLE FRANK BRASS

WCAB Commissioner Frank Brass (Ret.) was born on “Bloomsday,” June 16, 1931 at St. Francis Hospital in his favorite city, San Francisco. After spending over fifty years brilliantly serving the interests of our statewide legal community, Frank passed away at St. Francis Hospital on March 11, 2019. His adventure had come full circle.

Frank was extremely proud of his Portuguese ancestry. He was a voracious reader. One of his favorite Portuguese authors was Fernando Pessoa, who wrote the following in his “Book of Disquiet:”

“I read and I am liberated. I acquire objectivity… And what I read…is the external world’s tremendous and remarkable clarity, the sun that sees everyone, the moon that splotches the still earth with shadows, the wide expanses that end in the sea…The value of things is not the time they last, but the intensity with which they occur. That is why there are unforgettable moments and unique people!”

Frank Brass was certainly one of those remarkable and unique people of whom Pessoa spoke, and to whom our San Francisco legal family owes so much. As a WCAB Commissioner from 2001 to 2018, he interpreted the law in favor of due process, while always mindful that “the tie goes to the injured worker.” As an attorney, he never lost sight of his belief that compassion was as noble a sword as knowledge of the law. And as a man, his deepest love and fiercest loyalty belonged to his family and close friends.

His city, his profession, his Portuguese heritage all played formidable roles throughout the various ebbs and flows of his incredibly dynamic life, but nothing was more dear to him than his family; his wife, Sharlyne, his two sons, Frank and Tony and their children.

His passing leaves an inconsolable melancholy in each of us, until, in our own despair, we fill that void, bit by bit, with indelible memories of Frank’s warmth, his innate sense of fair play, and his extraordinary ability to inspire us all to succeed far beyond what we thought was conceivably possible. He was our hero then, and always will be.

Dear Frank, your community family and friends will miss you forever.