William G. Brabender, 76, 2918 Harvard Blvd., died Thursday, Aug. 7,
2003,
at Saint Vincent Health Center.
He was born in Erie Jan. 8, 1927, son of the late George J. and
Elizabeth
Wuenschel Brabender.
He worked as the superintendent for the Edmund L. Thomas Detention
Center
from 1973 to 1982. He taught at East High School — where he
coached
wrestling, track and field, and football — from 1954 to 1973. He
began his teaching career as an elementary teacher in the Erie School
District in 1951. He formerly served as director of the Erie School
Board.
He graduated from Strong Vincent High School in 1945 and from Indiana
University in 1949, where he lettered in six sports.
He served in World War II.
He was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.
He received the Teacher of the Year award from the Junior Chamber of
Commerce in 1969. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Athletes Hall of
Fame, and the new East High School gymnasium was named for him.
He was a member of the Pennsylvania Retired Teachers Association,
Pennsylvania State Education Association, National Juvenile Detention
Association, the Juvenile Detention Centers of Pennsylvania, the
Pennsylvania Northwest Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Erie
Lions
Club, Knights of St. John and the Times Old Newsies.
He was preceded in death by three infant sons; three sisters, Marion
Posten, Dorothy Consider and Helen Grode; and one brother, George
Brabender Jr.
Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Jeanine Kerr Brabender; three
daughters, Liz Ann Yount and Debbie Kissman and her husband, Jimmie, all
of
Erie, and Janet Bealko and her husband, Tony, of Pittsburgh; two
brothers,
Richard Brabender and his wife, Elizabeth, and his twin brother Robert
Brabender and his wife Carolyn, all of Erie; eight grandchildren; and
several nieces and nephews.
Friends may call Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 4 and 7
to
9 p.m. at Francis V. Kloecker Funeral Home. A service there Monday at
9:30
a.m. will be followed by a Mass at 10 a.m. at Blessed Sacrament Catholic
Church.
Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the William G. Brabender Scholarship Fund in
care
of Francis V. Kloecker Funeral Home, 2502 Sassafras St, Erie, PA 16502.
