Allan J. Brodsky
BRODSKY: Allan J. Brodsky passed away in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Sunday, July 28, 2024 after a brief illness. Allan was born on Nov. 19, 1932, in Brooklyn, New York to Ralph and Eva (Jollowsky) Brodsky and grew up in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where his parents ran a women’s clothing store. He relished his childhood in a small town in the Poconos where he learned to ski and fish, became a bar mitzvah and an Eagle Scout, and had easy access to New York City. There he joined his father on clothing buying trips to the Lower East Side, visited his grandparents, aunts and uncles in Brooklyn, learned to use chopsticks on trips to Chinatown with his local Boy Scout leader, and enjoyed the first of a lifetime full of musical and theater performances. After graduating from high school at Blair Academy in Blairtown, New Jersey, in 1951, Allan enrolled at Lehigh University. Midway through his studies and at the tail end of the Korean War, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving two years in Germany, including three tours on the National Ski Patrol in the Alps. Allan returned to Lehigh and graduated with a degree in sociology in 1957 and took his first job with the Boy Scouts of America. Across his career he worked for Ketchum, Binney and Smith, and then struck out on his own as a small business owner, focusing on a myriad of business services. In 1958, Allan married Clementine (Clemmy) Klein, a graduate of Beaver (now Arcadia) College whom he met on a blind date two years prior. They settled briefly in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, before moving to Pittsburgh, where they lived for 55 years, nearly all of it in Shaler Township before moving to Silver Spring. Maryland in 2015 to be closer to their children. Clemmy predeceased Allan in 2017. In Pittsburgh, Allan and Clemmy were dedicated to many civic and cultural activities, as well as to the lives of their children Anne (Margaret Chriss) Brodsky and Jay (Lynn Westwater) Brodsky. Allan and Clemmy were one of the founding families of Temple Ohav Shalom, where they both took on many volunteer roles over the years. They were tennis players, active Shaler Area Marching Band parents, and season ticketholders for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Civic Light Opera, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh Pirates. Allan was a member of the North Hills Shaler Library board, the Allegheny County Library Association board, the Glenshaw Kiwanis Club, a docent at the Heinz History Center and played the bagpipes as a member of the Syria Highlanders Shriners band. He was an avid photographer from his time in Germany to his retirement in Maryland, who enjoyed doing his own darkroom — and eventually Photoshop — work. He was a dedicated cheerleader and supporter of Clemmy’s full-time social justice volunteer efforts, serving beside her at events and activities around the Pittsburgh area. After moving to Riderwood Senior Community in Silver Spring, Allan remained active in the photography club and outings committee, read the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Washington Post, and The New York Times every day on his iPad, texted daily with his kids, sent emails to friends he and Clemmy had made worldwide, and took full advantage of D.C.’s museums and cultural events. Allan was always on the hunt for restaurant recommendations from his friends at Riderwood and reviews in the Post. He took great joy in recommending meals out to try new food with whichever constellations of the family were available and particularly when everyone, including his three granddaughters (Sofia, Julia, Anna), could join in a meal out with the whole family. Allan will be remembered for the delight and pride he took in the accomplishments of his wife, children, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters; his strong moral compass, support of women’s rights, dedication to service, and respect for education, wisdom and knowledge; love of classical, jazz and bluegrass music and abiding interest in sociology, technology and gadgets; and for possessing a deep appreciation of his full life. Graveside service and interment will be held on Friday Aug. 2, at 10:30 a.m. at West View Cemetery of Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh. The family will hold a celebration of Allan’s life at Riderwood in Silver Spring, Maryland, in August. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Kamala Harris for President kamalaharris.com/, The Family and Nursing Care Foundation familynursingcare.com/foundation/, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra or Blair Academy blair.edu/all-in-campaign. schugar.com PJC
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