Barb Brodersen
Born August 14, 1935, living a full life to April 15, 202
“I had a wonderful life, thank you for sharing yours.”
Born in 1935, Barb Broderson led a full life as shared by her family in these memories.
She blew out her candles on her 10th birthday after making a wish, and the mill whistles across the Columbia River began to blow like crazy. It turns out her wish had come true—the end of World War II, August 14th, 1945.
Barb was crowned Miss Rainier in 1952.
In 1954, Barb married Wil Bundy then moved to Sitka in 1958 with the agreement that the family would come outside every summer to visit. They took up residence on an island off Conway Dock with two little girls, Becky and Bonny, with another, Bambi, on the way.
When it came time, Barb voted for statehood – her husband voted against it.
In 1972 Barb married Dick Dubell in Anchorage, gaining two sons, Jim and Skip, and another daughter, Barb. Jim became her son-in-law. She retired to New Jersey to customize a 38’ sailboat hull, “Denali”, and sailed down the East Coast to the Bahamas with daughter Bambi. They decided not to sail through the Panama Canal since she had to have surgery on her crushed left wrist, putting her in a cast. A tough lesson after learning that she could not keep a boat from hitting the piling with just her arm.
Barb married the love of her life, John Brodersen, on April 6, 1985. The couple moved from Wrangell to Skagway in 1988 and… look out, Skagway… you would never be the same again!
Here comes the Easter Bunny, hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity hop, Easter’s on its way. And she has been hopping along long enough to have kids of kids greet the same Easter Bunny.
Then there was Santa’s elf. How many of you in town got talked into helping out, and do you remember how good you felt afterwards? Barb did.
How about the 1898 Salon Girl with her tube of red lipstick in hand to reapply the lipstick. John was the color guard of the 4th of July Parade, so he had the privilege of setting the pace down and back on Broadway. Barb and her ‘volunteers’ got to plant a lot of lip prints down the west side of the street and then back up the east side. There is evidence that guys had more than one lip print!
Remember when Barb jumped out of a perfectly good plane 6000 feet up there on her 80th birthday with daughters Bonny and Bambi as spectators. Surprise girls!’ She did it again on her 81st, 82nd and 83rd birthdays as well. When asked ‘Why!?’ – ‘Cuz I can,’ she replied.
Conversation with Bambi:
(Bambi) “Don’t worry Mom. We’ll have the AED ready,”
(Mom) “For me?”
(Bam) “No! For us!”
Barb was the “Queen of Volunteers”. She received the “Distinguished Volunteer Service Award” twice, which we know of. She had been retired since 1977 and never quite learned how to stop doing for others – she was always passing her smile on to everybody she met.
These are just a very few of Barb Brodersen escapades. The family would love to hear from you with your Barb stories, including about all the volunteering she has done. We were not able to be ‘right next door’ to see all that she had accomplished. We know she did a lot because every four or five years, we would hear about how she really had to slow down. If you could share with us, it would be really cool.
You can email us at mkbecky1@gmail.com or via USPS at Box 229, Skagway, Alaska 99840.
Barb’s Celebration of Life is scheduled for May 5 at the Eagles at 6th and Broadway at 5:30 p.m. It’s a potluck.
She loved costumes, so friends are encouraged to have fun dressing up for the event – she requested that no one wear black to the celebration. PS Mom always had an eye for men in uniform.
Thank you for being part of our Mom’s life.
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