Merrill Broad, 89, died Jan. 23, 2017.
A longtime Tucson resident, Mr. Broad was born in Uniontown, Pa., the youngest of three siblings. He joined the Navy at the end of World War II, serving on the USS Thompson as secretary to the ship’s commander. When his service ended, he returned to Uniontown and shortly after met the woman who would become his wife, Phyllis. They were married for 65 years but had known each other for 70.
In 1958, the pair packed up their young family that included daughters Sherri and Amy, and headed west to Tucson, where their daughter Judy was born. They joined Congregation Anshei Israel, where Mr. Broad served on the board of directors. Mr. Broad was co-owner of the Shelter Cocktail Lounge for 28 years with George Markovich, though he himself never drank anything stronger than coffee.
After his retirement, he became a crossing guard for Tucson Unified School District and was a fixture at the corner of 5th Street and Chantilly, where he crossed Sewell Elementary School children for 19 years. He received the Pima County Crossing Guard of the Year award for the 2010-2011 school year.
Mr. Broad was preceded in death by his sister, Rita, and brother, Leo. Survivors include his wife, Phyllis; daughters, Sherri (Rabbi Avi) Bloch of St. Louis, Mo., Amy (Dr. Robert) Direnfeld of Tucson and Judy (Phillip) Sanfield of Torrance, Calif.; nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Services were held at Evergreen Mortuary with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel
officiating.
