Top lawyer, former Mayor Brountas dies

BANGOR – Former lawyer and City Council Chairman Nicholas P. Brountas was remembered Tuesday as a family man, talented lawyer and gentleman.

Brountas, a second-generation Greek-American, died Monday at age 84 at a local health care facility.

Among those mourning his loss is Gov. John Baldacci, whose father, Robert Baldacci Sr., served with Brountas on the Bangor City Council in the 1960s. Both families rose to prominence in the area’s business, legal and public service sectors.

“He was a lovely man – a real gentleman,” the governor said Tuesday, adding that Brountas, whose specialties were business, estate and tax law, was his parents’ attorney.

Baldacci said Brountas would be remembered for his “old-fashioned values. He was bright and capable, but he didn’t try to impress people. We are all thinking of his family. He will be missed.”

Brountas was well-established in his law practice with Lewis Vafiades when Maine Supreme Court Justice Warren Silver came to Bangor as a young lawyer in 1977. They set the example that Silver’s generation still strives to model, the justice said.

“The most important thing I can say about Nick is he was a gentleman,” Silver said Tuesday. “He was respectful, kind and just a good lawyer. He was a pillar of the bar and, along with Lew, was a member of a group of lawyers we should all try to emulate.”

Susan Kominsky, a partner in the law firm Brountas co-founded, agreed: “He never went for the quick answer. He really studied every problem from all possible sides,” said Kominsky, one of Bangor’s first female lawyers. “He was very respectful of my role as a lawyer in those early days.”

Maine State Bar Association President Brett Baber called Brountas “a true stalwart of the bar, having been recognized by the Maine State Bar Association for more than 50 years as a member of the organization and achieving the honor of becoming a Life Member.”

He said Brountas “came from a generation of lawyers who epitomized the best of our profession. [He] was deeply committed to his clients, to his fellow lawyers, and most of all, to his community.”

Brountas also was the first of three brothers who made a splash in city politics in the 1960s and 1970s. Brountas, who served two consecutive terms beginning in November 1962, was the council’s chairman in 1964. His younger brothers, Arthur and George, followed in his footsteps, both serving on the council and chairing it.

A photograph of the three former mayors hung in a prominent spot in his office for decades, according to his oldest son, David Brountas, who lives in Massachusetts.

A graduate of the University of Maine and Yale Law School, Nicholas Brountas belonged to many civic and professional groups, including the American Bar Association, the Bangor City Club, the board of appeals, The Salvation Army advisory council and the Maine State Judicial Ethics Committee.

In addition to his son David, Brountas is survived by his wife, Helen, of Bangor and youngest son, Nicholas, of New York City.

Visiting hours, which will be private, are planned for Friday at Brookings-Smith Funeral Home in Bangor. A funeral service, also private, will be held Saturday at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor.

BDN writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.