Obituary of J. Staats Brokaw III

Clinton Township - J. Staats Brokaw III, 57, died on Friday, September 2, 2005 at his home surrounded by family and friends after a 2 1/2 year bout with colon cancer. He was born in Somerville on July 17, 1948 and had lived there before moving to Clinton Township 31 years ago. He was a graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater and received his bachelors degree in 1970 and his masters degree in 1971 both in Civil Engineering from Bucknell Univerrsity in Lewisburg, PA. Mr. Brokaw was a licensed professional engineer and planner having served as a vice president and principal of Schoor DePalma in Clinton for the past 4 years. He was previously president of his own engineering firms for 14 years which included; J. Staats Brokaw Associates, Brokaw DeRiso Associates and Brokaw, F.G. all of Clinton. He also worked at Bellemead Development Corp. of Roseland for 5 years and Tectonic of Somerville for 10 years as an engineer. He was commissioned as a lietenant in the US Army serving with the 102nd Armor Division of the NJ National Guard in Bound Brook as a tank commander and executive officier from 1971 to 1978. Mr. Brokaw was a 31 year member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick where he served he served as a past church treasurer, past council president and past council vice president. He was presently chairman of the stewardship committee and had served on the evangelism, parish life and long range planning committees. He was a member of the Somerville Jaycees, Somerset County Chamber of Commerce, Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce, the North Hunterdon Rotary where he was a Paul Harris Fellow and a past secretary, the Clinton Business Group where he served as past vice president, the Hunterdon Economic Partnership where he served as past president, Raritan Valley Community College Foundation, American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Society of Professional Engineers. Mr. Brokaw loved sailing and was the captain of his Frers 33 sailboat named Pchomp, Pchomp. He was a OUPV(Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels) US Coast Guard licensed captain and a member of the Hudson River Yacht Racing Association and the Haverstraw Bay Racing Association both in New York State. He was predeceased by his father, John S. Brokaw, Jr., who died in 1962. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Louise Kunkel Brokaw; a son, Colin W. Brokaw of Whitehouse Station; a daughter, Kaitlin J. Brokaw of Alexandria, VA; his mother, Ruth Frazee Brokaw of Bridgewater; 2 brothers, Wayne Brokaw of Cedar falls, Iowa and Keith Brokaw of Hope and a sister, Elizabeth Brokaw Sommerville of Hillsborough. A memorial service will be held at the Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick on Sunday, September 25 at 2:00pm. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the Kearns Funeral Home, 103 Old Highway 28, Whitehouse. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Zion Lutheran Church Memorial Garden, P.O. Box 41, Oldwick, NJ 08858. For more information visit us at www.kearnsfurneralhome.com.