Arthur Bromiley

After a full and happy life Arthur Bromiley, 88, a devoted husband and father, died on Monday, September 26, 2011, from cancer, having beaten the disease twice in earlier years.

He was born to Sydney and Dorothy Bromiley on December 1, 1922, in a small coastal English town, Leigh-on-Sea, and was the last of his immediate family. His brother Neil, having died several years ago in England, and his sister Myrtle, more recently in Nairobi, Kenya.

He volunteered for service and joined the British Royal Navy directly from school on his birthday in 1940, serving his first year in destroyers in the North Atlantic - a time of huge loss at seas. His father, brother and sister were all commissioned officers in the navy.

As Sub.Lieutenant he was decorated by the King at Buckingham Palace with the Distinguished Service Cross for "... gallantry, skill and devotion to duty in the initial landings by the Allied Forces on the coast of Normandy in June 1944." As a Lieut. Commander he was later awarded the Volunteer Reserve Decoration by the present Queen of England. During the war and in subsequent years he commanded a number of different naval ships.

After several years of study and working in London, he moved to the Sudan subsequently living for some twenty years in East Africa. Although working for local entities in the Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania he was a member of the British Overseas Service. He spent long periods in the African bush hunting big game whilst in each country and, on leaving Tanzania took his wife and daughter on a year-long safari.

In 1967 he met and married Dr. Adele Bromiley in Mombasa, Kenya, where they had their first daughter, Gail. His second daughter, Lisa, was born shortly after their arrival in this country in 1973. He was a loving husband and father who was immensely proud of the achievements and successes of both his wife and children. He was widely traveled and had visited most parts of the world; he particularly enjoyed the annual overseas journeys with his family which had been arranged by his wife.

He participated in many sports having played rugby football, squash, polo and was a competitive swimmer. He made enduring friendships and remained close to several people for over sixty years.

He actively participated in the development of Brownsville Pediatric Association and supervised their large laboratory for many years. He was a distinguished Member Emeritus of the American Society for Microbiology.

He was a loyal friend, loving, amused and amusing. He greatly enjoyed his years in the Valley and was proud to be a joint Englishman-Texan. There will be a cremation but no service.

"Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

And the hunter home from the hill."