Glen Willard Broderick

Memorial Service for Glen Willard Broderick Time: 7/21/12 at 1PM Place: The Broderick home. 2772 Avenida de Autlan, Camarillo CA 93010 If you would like to attend, please call me at (805)988-9885. Rides can be arranged Obituary for our beloved husband, brother, father, and grandfather Glen (Bill) Broderick Bill was born to Glen Hugh Broderick, and Pearl Barry Broderick on Oct. 4, 1917 in Grand Rapids MI. Bill grew up with his three brothers Robert, Jack, and David. Bill died on July 9, 2012 at the age of 94 in Camarillo CA. He was married to the love of his life Edith Louise Voyles on Nov 26th, 1950. They were married for thirty-three years until Edith passed away on August 29th, 1987. May she rest in peace. Glen was called Bill by his friends. He was survived by his son Glen Wesley Broderick and his daughter Sandra Lynn Belavilas. Glen’s family includes his wife Leslie Anne Proulx Broderick and their four children Kelly, Katherine, Robert, and Claire. Sandra’s family includes her husband Aristotelis Belavilas and their three children Aristotelis Telly, Alexandros and Angelos. Bills life almost never happened. At the age of two he was struck down with the Spanish Flu. One of the largest epidemics in human history that Spanish Flu killed millions of people throughout the world. It took nine surgeries to save him, and he was deaf in one ear for the rest of his life. At times, he was completely deaf and he had to attend deaf school as a child. Because of this, he learned to read lips. Our father worked as a mechanical engineer at Cadillac and General Motors in Detroit. At the outbreak of WWII he was working on part of the design of the M4 tank that was used throughout the war. Tired of working at a desk and wanting to contribute to the war effort he joined the US Merchant Marines. One day, they took down his ship’s American Flag and ran up the British Union Jack. His ship had been given to the British for the Lend-Lease Program. For the rest of the war he sailed gasoline tankers for the British traveling through the Middle East, Europe and the Pacific. Bill was often the quartermaster of his ship and also a lookout. As a lookout, his job was to look for submarines that would try to torpedo his ship. He tells the story of being in Australia and watching American Naval ships coming into port with holes the size of houses in them. They had just come from the battle of Leyte Gulf which was the largest naval battle in history. Bill was very proud of his time at sea and was forever telling the stories of his adventures. Bill steered his ship through the Panama Canal with a US Marine pointing a rifle at his back. They were afraid that if any sailor crashed a ship in the Canal it would block the whole Atlantic fleet from moving to the Pacific. At the end of the war, Bill was within 400 miles of Japan. He was in both Japan and Germany during the first two years after the war. He was in Shenghai China when Chiang Kai-Shek was retreating to Taiwan and when the communist army was marching in. He tells of the time his captain was poisoned by the Germans because they were still bitter after the war. Once he was in Peru when a revolution broke out, and he loved to tell about the time he was caught smuggling cigarettes into the Dutch East Indies. He was a member of “The Greatest Generation”. After the war he met Edith and started his family. They moved from Michigan to Los Angeles. He was always very artistic and creative. He had gone to art school and his house was always full of paintings. He also invented, created, and promoted many products. He invented the Broderick Galley Holder (holds type for printers), the Thompson fluid head (holds camera for chase planes) and a line of Waterfalls for the home that were sold throughout the US. Together Bill and Edith invented Spray Starch, and disposable ashtrays. In 1970 the family woke up to mom yelling “fire” and telling everyone to go out their bedroom windows. Instead, I opened my bedroom door and saw a wall of flames. The smoke was so thick, that we could only see two feet in front of us. I assumed the whole house was ablaze and would soon be finished. Then I saw my father run down the hall, run outside and grab a garden hose. He ran inside and put out the fire, thus saving the house. I can testify that he was a brave man. He told Sandy “we all have steel in our veins”. In 1977 he sold the family home in Fountain Valley CA and traveled with Ede for years across the United States enjoying life, playing bridge, painting and working in the printing business. Both Bill and Ede said that it was the best time of their lives. Always a warm, kind man he was known for offering assistance to any that needed it. In 1995, he started buying internet domain names and developing businesses around websites such as NeonSigns.com, HomeRentals.com, GraphicDesigners.com, DoubleCoupons.com, AutoRepairs.com, and many others. His hero was Thomas Edison and he was constantly challenging people to think of new ways to do things. After Edith’s death he moved in with his son’s family and lived in Simi Valley and Camarillo. He was the only person ever trusted to babysit the kids and he spent many hours teaching them to draw, read and learn to do their very best. In his nineties he finally stopped driving but he retained his apartment and self-sufficient lifestyle. Bill painted until the very end.