Obituary for Earl Thomas Brodman

Earl Thomas Brodman, 94 of Grand Island died Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at Tiffany Square Care Center.Services will be 10 AM Saturday at Messiah Lutheran Church. Father Robert Lewis and Reverend James Fruehling will officiate. Burial will be in the Westlawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Military honors will be rendered by the US Army and the United Veterans Honor Guard.Visitation will be from 5-7 PM Friday at All Faiths Funeral Home.Earl was born on November 27, 1924 on the family farm by Yates Center, Kansas to Thomas and Emma (Bulk) Brodman. He attended area schools graduating from Yates Center High School in 1942.Earl proudly served in the United States Army Air Corp from 1943-1945. He was assigned to the Eighth Air Force stationed in England as a member of an air flying crew, flying 30 combat missions as an aerial tail gunner on a B-17 bomber. He was honorably discharged as a Staff Sergeant.Earl attended the University of Nebraska graduating with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1949. He became a registered Professional Civil Engineer in 1956. He worked for the Bureau of Reclamation, United States Department of Interior from 1949 to 1983, working on land and water resource development projects in Trenton, Superior, Valentine, St. Paul, and Grand Island, Nebraska.On June 1, 1946 Earl married Ruth Swanson of Shickley, Nebraska. Ruth passed away on June 10, 1984 in Grand Island. He married Shirley Gosda Jensen of Grand Island on December 31, 1985 at Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Island.Earl was a Life Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, serving as President and State Director, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Engineers' Club of Grand Island. He was also a member of Sigma Tau Honorary Fraternity and Grand Island Federal Executive Association.Earl was an active member of Messiah Lutheran Church of Grand Island, serving on the Church Council as President and on various committees including as volunteer church treasurer for 14 years. Earl was also a member of Riverside Golf Club, American Legion, Saddle Club, Liederkranz, Platt-Duetsche Society, Nebraska Alumni Association, YMCA, Crane Meadows and Stuhr Museum.Earl will always be remembered as a gentleman with a strong work ethic and devotion to God and his family.Those left to cherish his memory include his beloved wife of 33 years, Shirley; children, Diane (Steve) Styskal of Lakewood, WA, Donice Kasper of Lincoln, NE and Roger (Diane) Brodman of Scottsdale, AZ; stepchildren, Lori (Mark) Sass of Lincoln, NE , Jane (John) Rohweder of Tulsa, OK and Jack (Allison) Jensen of Brighton, MI; 15 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren; brothers, Calvin Brodman of Yates Center, KS, and Melvin (Dorothy) Brodman of Mesa, AZ and numerous extended family and friends.He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Emma Brodman, his late wife, Ruth Swanson Brodman, one brother, Glenn Brodman, one sister, Flossie Doyle and son-in-law, Thomas Kasper.Earl's family would like to especially thank the wonderful staff of Tiffany Square, the pastoral care, his doctors and Tabitha Hospice for their loving care.Memorials are suggested to Messiah Lutheran Church, 122 West 7th, Grand Island, NE 68801. Online condolences may be sent to www.giallfaiths.com