ORLANDO – The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information mourns the passing of Marion B. Brechner, who died Jan. 6, 2011 at the age of 98.
Mrs. Brechner was a media executive and philanthropist strongly committed to defending Florida’s freedom of information laws. She and her husband, the late Joseph L. Brechner, worked together throughout his long career as a broadcaster to ensure access to government information. Mr. and Mrs. Brechner’s generosity helped endow the Brechner Eminent Scholar of Freedom of Information Chair and build the current facilities for The Brechner Center.
Since Mr. Brechner’s death in 1990, Marion Brechner continued her and Joe’s commitment to the First Amendment and freedom of information. She created the Joseph L. and Marion B. Brechner graduate assistantship in 1996 because she saw the importance of extending understanding of Florida’s Sunshine laws and other freedom of information issues to the then-new medium of the Internet and the World Wide Web. She endowed the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project (MBCAP) in 1999 because she believed its mission — to examine open government laws in all 50 states — was vital to the continuance of our democratic society. That project is now the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, dedicated to contemporary free speech issues.
“At 98, Marion Brechner was still a force of nature and a true FOI hero,” Sandra Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center, said. “As an Orlando broadcasting executive, she was a tireless advocate for press freedoms, the First Amendment, and freedom of information. She encouraged, prodded, supported and challenged us right up until the end.”
“Throughout the years, the Brechners’ generous gifts have helped educate thousands of students, journalists, citizens and public officials about the value of open government and the First Amendment,” Chance said. “Thanks to their extraordinary generosity and vision, the Center is able to promote government transparency as fundamentally important to our democracy and fight to preserve access to information at the local, state and national level.”
Services were held Monday, Jan.10, 2011 at Temple Israel Cemetery in Orlando.
