I’m sorry to have to report that my friend, Pebble Creek resident and frequent Neighborhood News contributor Marion Brodarick passed away on March 10.
Marion was about five months away from her 104th birthday when she said goodbye to her family for the last time. I was lucky enough to be able to visit with her twice during that last week of her life and I was so happy to be able to tell her how much I loved and appreciated her and all of the stories about Pebble Creek (where she had been a Board member of her homeowners association) that she was the first to tell me about throughout my 32 years of owning this publication — as well as all of the contests she entered during that time.
But, Marion and I were somehow both aware that we shared a bond that went deeper than her feeding me some stories or entering contests or the fact that she also was a former newspaper editor (which she loved reminding me about) — of her school’s newspaper back in Chicago, where she had grown up and was 6th in her graduating class.
During my last visit to her home, with her daughter Ellen Fiss and her grandson-in-law Dylan Crawshaw by my side, Marion told me something I will carry with me forever:
“I wish a life like this on you, Gary,” she told me, “not just because it’s been long, but because it’s been such a good life. I’ve loved almost every minute of it.”
My own beloved grandmother Betty, who lived to almost 92, told me in the weeks before she passed “Everyone says it’s been a good, long life, Gary, but it’s just not enough life for me.”
I feel like that’s how I will be if I am fortunate enough to reach 92 or 103, but when Marion told me “It’s been a good life” and immediately beamed that beautiful smile at me, I understood that she had accepted that this was her time.
During those last two visits, we both fondly remembered not only Marion’s amazing 100th birthday celebration (more on that below), but also the fact that I came to visit with her and her bridge club’s smaller celebration for her centennial at Heritage Isles Country Club (the bridge club had originally met at Pebble Creek Golf Club, where Marion once scored a hole-in-one).
“That was so sweet of you to come see me that time,” she said. “I’ll never forget it.”
I also reminded Marion that she once won not only one of my Reader Dining Survey Contests, but also one of the Crossword Puzzle Contests that she loved to enter that I used to run in every issue of the paper when I was obsessed with a new crossword creator program I had found more than 25 years ago.
“I loved entering all of your contests,” she told me. “There was a group of us (in Pebble Creek) who used to all enter them.”
But, that 100th birthday celebration that was orchestrated by Ellen was one of the greatest events Jannah and I have ever been to together.
Featuring a big band, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe and other impersonators in an amazing converted home downtown, it was attended by former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco. Visit Tampa Bay president and former New Tampa resident Santiago Corrada was among those who sent videos, as Marion worked there greeting conventioneers and proctoring the Florida Bar exam for 35 years.
The birthday party also had about 100 photos and letters from the likes of Johnny Depp, Dick Van Dyke (Marion’s celebrity crush), David Muir of ABC News (whom she also loved), Mayor Jane Castor, Sheriff Grady Judd, many local news anchors and reporters and just so many more.
As Ellen also said in the beautiful obituary notice she wrote for her mom, “She became the first volunteer at the Straz Center for the Arts, serving joyfully there for 30 years, until her mid-90s.”
Also in that obit for her was the retelling of Marion’s love story, her second-date engagement and 58-year marriage to her beloved husband, Urban “Brod” Brodarick, who passed away in 2005, at age 86. “She loved unconditionally and was so proud of the lives her family built,” Ellen wrote.
I feel so fortunate to be able to have felt a tiny bit of that love for the past 32 years. Yes, it was a good life, Marion. I just wish we had a little more time to share. RIP
