Robert Charles Brockman, 92, passed away at home on August 22, 2023, after a full, long life.
Visitation will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, August 31 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Wessington Springs with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m. Funeral services with military honors will also be held at Our Saviors Lutheran Church on Friday, September 1 at 2 p.m.
Robert was born in Crown Point, Indiana, on April 19, 1931, to Carl Brockman and Marguerite, immigrants from Germany. The oldest child, he had three sisters – Betty Ann, Patty Jean and Caroline – and one brother, Richie.
Bob spoke only German until first grade and had to learn to write righthanded. His family often picnicked with other German families. The family moved around as Carl traveled for military transfer command and had a job in steel mills in Indiana before working as a machinist at a Navy yard in Boston.
For a time, the family didn’t have a car and would pay a few cents to ride the Boston transit. When they moved to Hyde Park south of Boston, they lived in a small house, and Bob often woke with frost sticking on the nails in his tiny room. Fun things to do included going to the 10-cent movies on Saturdays once the dishes were done, playing tin can on the rock, and waiting for the boats to bring in fresh fish.
Bob played baseball and football, was known for “his pleasant manner” and carried the American flag in a parade. He made the honor role at Hyde Park High and worked for a time at Finest grocery stores.
When given a choice between the army or Air Force, Bob joined the Air Force on July 31, 1950, because it was “going to be a little better than sleeping in the mud.” After basic training at Lackland base in San Antonio, Bob was set to attend navigation school but instead sent to Florida’s Air Force combat training base.
He was stationed in England from Sept 1950Oct. 1952, guarding planes, patrolling the town and wondering why the British doused fish and chips with vinegar and draft beer was served warm. One foggy night, he accidentally shot the eagle’s head off the cap of a warrant officer but lived to tell the tale.
Bob transferred to Ellsworth Air Force Base outside of Rapid City. He also got to visit the Azores – “the wettest country on earth” – as well as St. Johns and Newfoundland.
While riding one day with another airman on the base, Bob saw two guys in civilian clothes near the B-36 repair hangar. He told them to hit the ground, not knowing it was the base commander and General Ellsworth himself. The officer of the day saw and threatened to throw Bob in prison, until the general said, “Lieutenant, he’s right what he did. We shouldn’t be out here in our civilian clothes.”
While stationed at Ellsworth, Bob experienced what he would later call the most exciting event of his life – meeting his wife. His fate was sealed when some friends took him out for a trip into the city the same weekend Gloria Peterson was living it up with friends from Sioux Falls. Bob was smitten at first sight and said although there were plenty of female personnel on base, Gloria had “something special.”
After many visits to Sioux Falls, concerts in the park, movie dates, and an exchange of letters, Bob married Gloria on July 18, 1954. The couple lived for a time in the city where Bob worked at Dempster Mills Manufacturing and Gloria was a surgical supply receptionist, before moving to Brookings so he could go to school.
Thinking he was too old for school at age 27, Bob moved them back to Gloria’s hometown of Wessington Springs after a brief time in Wyoming. There, Bob became a jackof- all trades, working as a deputy sheriff, manager of a co-op, and the first ambulance driver in town. He also worked as a substitute teacher and was very active in his church.
When asked about the strangest thing he saw as sheriff, he said “Well, I looked in the mirror.”
The old, white twostory farmhouse on the corner of College Ave in Wessington Springs was Bob’s favorite home – a house carefully remodeled and the primary place he and Gloria raised their three children, Teri (born in 1956), Lori (1958) and Dan (1962).
Bob was a dedicated father and husband, always taking time out of his busy schedule for his family and passing on words of wisdom to his kids. He thought Gloria had it a lot harder than him, having to constantly feed the kids and keep the house in order while he napped on work breaks. When asked how he and Gloria survived 69 years of marriage, Bob simply shrugged.
He was a quieter man, mostly letting Gloria do the talking and interjecting with oneliners worthy of recording for posterity. Suave even into his old age, he was well-liked and popular in town (especially with ladies).
Bob loved his snacks, his ultimate favorite being Cheezits and other healthy foods like potato chips and candies. He made delicious special scrambled eggs with Worchester sauce and Chex Mix for his grandchildren every Christmas. He recently discovered the power of ham and cheese roll-ups to take the edge off.
He loved games like checkers and anything that makes you think. His team was, naturally, the New England Patriots.
An avid reader, he was never without stacks of books and, when he could no longer see well, switched to audio books. Sometimes the content in his thriller stories was a bit too descriptive for Gloria!
Even if Bob would tire of hearing Gloria’s stories and the two would poke at each other back and forth, they had a very special relationship. They indeed went through the good and bad together, losing their two beloved daughters to sickness, but also making every recital, graduation and special event they could for their grandchildren.
Bob had the perspective that every day was a new day, every Sunday morning a new week and new adventure. Even as his body became weaker, his spirit and faith didn’t as he knew his life was coming full circle and he would be reunited with Gloria when she passed three weeks before him.
“Everything falls into place when you’re happy and smile and laugh. You got the world by the tail,” was one of his last pieces of advice.
Bob is preceded in death by his wife Gloria Brockman; daughters Lori and Teri Brockman; his parents Carl and Marguerite Brockman; and sister Patty Jean. He is survived by his son Daniel Brockman (wife Rosemary) and children Courtney,Nicole,Matthew and Kaitlyn Brockman; grandson Cohen Burgess and son-in-law Claude; and siblings Betty Ann, Caroline and Richard.
