Obituary of David E. Broach

The reason obituaries are so dull to read is that they are so dull to write and that’s precisely why I’m writing my own: To save my family the drudgery in an otherwise stressful time. Following the standard format of obits I’ll start with I was born to Maudie and Bob in 1948. I enjoyed being an only child until my two sisters, Leslie and Maudie Marie came along. After that I learned to be an only child with two sisters. I have to stop here and mention that when my kidneys failed in my forties, my youngest sister Maudie Marie unselfishly agreed to transplant one of hers. When it came time much later for another transplant Leslie conveniently developed cancer rendering her ineligible and, although I assured her dialysis isn’t so bad, Maudie didn’t seize the opportunity to donate her other one. Fortunately our son Peter jumped at the chance and eagerly agreed to step up for which I was profoundly grateful. Moving on, I graduated from Edison High School in 1966 and moved on to blast my way through a five year architectural degree in only seven years at Oklahoma State. In 1983 I co-founded BSW Architects which grew to employ nearly 600 people in Tulsa and several other offices including Mexico City making it one of the ten largest firms in the US for several years. I’m kind of proud of that. Following retirement I served as Vice-President of the national board of the American Kidney Fund. Along the way I was President of the Eastern Oklahoma Chapter as well as President of the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. I was also President of the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council and served on the Arts Commission of the City of Tulsa. There is some other stuff but these are the highlights. Undoubtedly the best thing that I ever did was marrying Linda. I loved her dearly. She was my lover, partner, confidant and best friend. If not for her I would have been writing this many years earlier. Linda gave me the gift of two wonderful daughters. Jan-Marie Kroh and her husband Brad live in Kansas City where she is a practicing dermatologist. Stephanie spends most of her time helping keep women out of prison and lives in Tulsa with her husband Matt Horten. They in turn have given us three granddaughters and two grandsons. Our son Peter is a photographer living in Los Angeles. He has yet to have any kids which is regrettable because the gene pool would be greatly improved by his contribution. I guess all that’s left is to say goodbye to the many friends I’ve made over the last seven decades. I’ve kept up with some but lost track of many. Suffice to say that if I wasn’t dead I’d miss them all. A memorial service will be held 3:00 p.m. Friday, January 17 at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 501 S. Cincinnati, Tulsa. In lieu of flowers please consider donations to Iron Gate or New Hope. Ninde Brookside, 918-742-5556