Obituary of Harold Lee Brokaw

Pretty Much the life and times of Hal Brokaw

Harold (Hal) Lee Brokaw was born in Evansville, Indiana on December 26, 1925 to Floyd Embre and Lillian Vivian Painter Brokaw.  He grew up in Evansville along with his younger brother Floyd Elliot.  Young Floyd died at the age of nine when Hal was 12 years old.

Hal attended Stanley Hall grade school and Bosse High School in Evansville, graduating at 17 in 1943.  While at Bosse High he was very active in the music and arts programs and without delay he attended Indiana State Teachers College, now Indiana State Univeristy, in Terre Haute, Indiana majoring in Fine Arts.

Hal's education had to be out on hold in March of 1944 to enter the Navy.  the Navy determined his career to be as a Radio Operator and was sent to Alabama Polytechnical Institute (now University of Auburn) in Auburn, Alabama.  Graduating, he was then sent to New Port, Rhode Island for ship assignment.  That assignment took Hal to Baltimore, Maryland to become one of the ship's crew (plank owner) for the USS Tyrrell AKA 80, a just launched/newly christened ship.

While in the Navy, sailing the Pacific with ports of call of Hawaii, Guam, Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Bikini Islands, the Phillippines, Midawy, the Marshall's, the Mariana's, Saipan and Tinian Islands, the Caroline Islands as well as Nagoya, osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan.  The KA 80 was involved in the Liberation of the Phillippine's for which the ship received a unit citation from the Philippine government as well as the Okinawa invasion.  Hal returned home to Evansville in April, 1946 on a delay in route to Great Lakes where he was discharged in May, 1946.

At home, on leave, visiting an old high school buddy at his place of work he met the love of his life, Thelma Irene Jordan.  And on September 21, 1946 they were married at First Baptist Church in Evansville.  Thelma came from a family of seven siblings.  Her family always called her Sister or Sis and Hal said "I'm not calling my wife SIS so he renamed her Flip.

Fall came and Hal returned to school in Kansas City, MO, at Central Technical Institute.  He graduated in May of 1948 in Electrical Engineering.  His first job began in May 1948 at radio station WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The family began to grow, a son, Randy (Randolph) Jordan was born on July 30, 1950 at Lutheran Hospital and a daughter Jennifer Lee born on May 30, 1955.  While at WOWO, Hal became Chief Engineer as well as being a member of the Editorial Board and other on air work as well.  in 1960 he was asked to travel to Toronto, Canada to design the installation of new broadcast equipment for radio station CKEY, a new acquisition of Westinghouse Electric of Canada.

In 1961 Hal was asked to be a part of a three man tean to convert KFWB in Los Angeles from a top 40 format to an all news format.

In 1962, Hal was transferred to radio station WINS then located at the confluence of Broadway, Central Park West and 59th (Columbus Circle) in New York City and Engineering Manager to help with the program format change from top 40 music to all news and to design new studios  and engineering soaces for a move of facilities to a new building at 90 Park Avenue.

Hal was next transferred to radio station WIND in Chicago as Engineering Manager of both WOWO and WIND in 1965, the purpose, to move and redesign station WIND facilities.

In June 1969 Hal was able to acquire two radio stations, an AM and an FM, in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, Illinois.  The family, consisting of wife Flip, and daughter Jennie moved to Aurora from Deerfield, another Chicago suburb.  Randy by this time was in college in Carbondale, Illinois at Southern Illinois University.

As new owner and operator of two radio stations in the western suburbs of the Chicago market it was decided to change the program format of the AM station WMRO to all talk, news and sports, and leave the FM station WAUR with easy listening music.  It was also decided to increase the power to effective 50,000 watts (max) to better serve the large Chicago market.  Hal also took time out of his other duties to host a daily 2 hour talk show with telephone and studio guest concerning all current events of the day.  Hal hosted the program called "Open Line" from 1970 until the end of 1986.

While in Aurora Hal became very involved with his community.  He has served as Director/President of the Kane County Heart Association and Cancer Society, the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra Association and advisor to the Fox Valley United Arts Board.  Chairman of the Aurora Downtown Redevelopment Commission, the Aurora Civic Center Authority, he was a director and Vice President of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.  Hal was Chairman of the Kane County Zoning Board of Appeals and a Director of Copley Memorial Hospital.  He was also a member of the Citizens Advisory Board of Aurora College.  Hal was named in the 42 edition (1982-1983) of Who's Who in America.

An offer to buy WMRO & WAUR was accepted in October of 1986 and the decision to retire was made by Flip and Hal for the end of the year.  This would give proper time for transition of new management to take over the operation of the radio stations.

The period between 1987 & 1989 was spent with much deliberation between both Flip and Hal concerning what to do with the rest of 'our lives' and where it should be done.  During that period they bought a small home in Prestbury, a development of Sugar Grove, IL, and another in Princeton, Indiana.  Winter vacations were spent in Florida, first on the east coast at Vero Beach then on the west coast in Naples and Fort Myers.  It became evudent that the west coast was favored.  A home was built in Worthington Country Club, a development on the east side of Bonita Beach, FL in 1989 and both homes up north were sold.

The years between 1989 & 2002 were spent on the golf course, the Gulf of Mexico, and the swimming pool with periods of family fun at home when both son and daughter bringing their broods mostly at the same times for total family fun.  Every holiday seems to have the title of Gram and Gramps Fun Time.  Hal kept busy by playing golf and working with the U.S. Coast Guard.  Hal joined the Coast Guard Auxilary and served with the Regular Coast Guard contingent on patrols.  He had a 30 foot Pro-Line fishing boat which was used in training Coasties and Auxiliarist in the sea and rescue procedures.  The Auxiliary held safe boating classes for the civilians of the area all year long.  Hal served as an instructor in those classes, as Flotilla Commander of Flotilla 96 Distric 7 and as a Division 9 Officer.

As the grandchildren aged and their daily interest matured the fun times became less frequent and the space between family members became more important to Hal & Flip.

In 2001, Hal & Flip visited their daughter Jennie and son-in-law Jeff Stein at their new projected home at Governors Club in Chapel Hill, NC.  They were making the move from Aurora, Illinois, as soon as they acquired a new home.  Hal & Flip started then to think about another move.  That decision was made when they returned home to Florida and they began the process of building another home, this time in North Carolina.

Hal & Flip moved again, to their new home in Governors Club in September, 2002.  After eight years, they moved again.  Carolina Meadows in Chapel Hill is a Continuing Care Residential Community very near Governors Club which retains the idea of keeping family close.  This move occurred the day before Thanksgiving, 2010.

In June of 2018, after nearly 72 years of marriage, Flip passed away.  Hal & Flip are reunited again and in the presence of Jesus forevermore!  Their ashes will be side by side, along with other family members at Park Lawn Cemetery in Evansville, Indiana  

Walker's Funeral Home of Chapel Hill is assisting the Brokaw family.