Bruce Brodsky passed away, while his daughter held his hand, on March 22, 2026 at the age of 73. He is survived by his daughter, Lauren; and his brother, David.

My dad was very loving, caring, dependable, and thoughtful. He enjoyed helping people and making sure everything was taken care of. He also had a great, sarcastic sense of humor, often grumpy, and friend to all animals (except spiders).

Bruce enjoyed classic movies, TV shows, and crossword puzzles. He was a collector of records and books. The Beatles were his favorite. When I was little, my dad loved introducing me to movies, and he seemed to know every movie ever made. He would convince my close friends watch David Lynch's Eraserhead. We both love '60s/70s music. He also introduced to me to my favorite artist, Tori Amos. He was a big Phillies fan. And Dad and I loved animals. Since 1993, the Brodsky family always had pet chinchillas.

Bruce was born November 11, 1952 in Philadelphia, PA to Evelyn and Nathan Brodsky. They were a non-religious Jewish family. In 1929, at the age of 8, his father, Nathan, immigrated with his family from Poland to Philadelphia, to escape religious persecution before the Nazi party took over.

My dad received a BA in Business Administration from Temple University in 1974. Though he was politically left, he worked for the U.S. federal government under the DoD. He worked in civilian jobs such as: an accountant, auditor, and financial analyst for 32 years in various Navy agencies. Bruce's mother also worked at the Naval Aviation Supply Office (ASO), and so did Beverly's mother. In 1978, both their mothers set them up on a blind date.

In 1980 he married Beverly, and in 1982 they had their only daughter, Lauren. Right before they were married they saw Airplane! in the theater, and this was always a favorite movie for all of us.

Bruce was very caring and always there to help. Over 3 years ago he lost his wife to dementia. He was my mom's sole caregiver until it was too hard, and was able to care for her at home until she passed away in 2022. He was also an attentive chinchilla dad. Last year he nursed his chinchilla, Rose, back to health when she was losing weight. Dad and I would always work together as a team to help each other.

Two years ago, a CT scan found that Bruce had a large, cancerous kidney mass. The surgery would be extensive, so they decided to watch it with yearly images, since it was a slow-growing mass that didn’t grow yet.

Seemingly unrelated, in late February my dad had a cold with fevers, and a hoarse voice. Eventually he was so weak he couldn't get off the couch. When he finally told me, I called an ambulance. They found he had perforated diverticulitis (rupturing his bowel), septic shock, dropping blood pressure, and hours to live. He had an emergency sigmoidectomy surgery on 2/25/26. The surgeon removed his sigmoid colon, leaving him with an ostomy bag, and he was on a ventilator to heal. He was only on the ventilator half a day, eventually got out of the ICU, and attempted to get better.

The doctors were waiting for his bowel to "wake up," which is common after this surgery. There were signs that his bowel should be able to function, but it never fully worked again. During this wait, Bruce was at risk for complications. At one point he vomited and got aspiration pneumonia. He was put back on the ventilator for a few days to save his life a second time. When he got off the ventilator, the doctors told me his body is not going to be able to heal at this point, and this is fatal. Continuing treatment would only prolong his death with more complications in the ICU.

The doctors suspect that everything was caused by a more global problem: the large, cancerous kidney mass. It grew while he was in the hospital, it’s pushing on the bowel, and using up resources. This is why his incision wound was healing so slowly, and the bowel hasn't woken up.

My dad had 'hospital delirium' and didn’t know exactly why he was in the hospital. But he understood that his body was "deteriorating" as he said, from all the doctor discussions. He knew that he couldn't make complex decisions, and told me a few times that he was okay with what I decide for him.

During his last 3 days, Bruce was in comfort care/hospice in the hospital, with a private room. I was with him 24/7. And we had some special times together, including watching old TV shows on the hospital iPad. For 3 weeks he was only allowed to eat ice chips, but now we gave him little bits of food he enjoyed. Especially Mott's Unsweetened Applesauce! We got to say how much we loved each other, and that we will be best friends forever.

Bruce took his last breath while Lauren held his hand. He was cremated and we'll have a private family service. My dad always believed that when he passed away he’ll see my mom again. I hope my parents found each other. I love you forever, Dad.

"And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make." – The Beatles, The End

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