Donald Broggi

Donald James Broggi, of Washington, Pa died peacefully at his home with his family, following a protracted struggle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 80 years old. Born August 6, 1929 in Gallatin, Pa, one of three children, to James and Mabel Sickles Broggi, he was an avid sports enthusiast who loved baseball, football and boxing. He also maintained lifelong passions for history, poetry and music. He was a 1947 graduate of Monongahela High School who went on to fight in the Korean War where he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the US Army and was awarded 3 bronze stars for meritorious service during the campaign. Following the war, he received both his Bachelor’s degree and Master’s Degrees in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. On April 18, 1964 at Immaculate Conception Church of Connellsville, Pennsylvania, he married Judith Ann Black. They were married for 45 years. Mr. Broggi was employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, retiring as County Supervisor in 1988. A lifelong civil rights advocate and humanitarian, he was honored with the NAACP “Man of the Year” award in 1972. He was a man possessed of sharp wit, generous nature, easy laugher, a quick and fierce temper at times but always psychologically framed with an underlying kindness. He wielded a deep understanding of the human condition honed though out the eight decades of his life. He was a Romantic in the classic sense of the word. He will be missed by many. Surviving are his wife Judith, daughter, Shareen McNinch and husband James of Washington, Pa, son Donald Alan Broggi and Louise Slinger of New York, NY, son David James Broggi and wife Libby and grandchildren Emma and Avery of Conshohocken, PA as well as great nephews Joseph Dusi and Peter Dusi, niece Karen Heyworth, and their families of Cleveland, Ohio. Also surviving is brother Robert Broggi of Monongahela, Pa. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister Doris Dusi of Cleveland Ohio. Friends will be received Saturday, from 7 to 9 pm and Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 pm. in William G. Neal Funeral Homes, Ltd., 925 Allison Avenue, Washington. An additional period of visitation will be held on Monday from 10 to 11 am, in the Trinity Episcopal Church, 550 S. Main Street, Washington, PA, where services will be held at 11:00 am with Rev. Karen Stevenson officiating. Burial will be in Washington Cemetery. Military honors accorded by Edwin Scott Linton Post # 175, American Legion.