Brodkey, 99, true friend of library

Bess Brodkey loved tackling new challenges.

Oil painting. Quilting. Planning international trips.

But what Brodkey may best be remembered for in Omaha is the challenge she tackled for the Friends of the Omaha Public Library: running its annual book sale.

Brodkey died Friday at age 99.

She assumed responsibility for the sale in 1982 and remained involved with Friends of the Library until about five years ago.

“She had a lifelong love of books,” said her son, Dr. Mark Brodkey, 65, of Kansas City, Mo. “She loved to read. … I think she read every particular mystery she could get a hold of.”

Polly Goecke, a past president of the Friends of the Library, said Brodkey always had a smile on her face. “She made everybody feel like they were very special to the book sale,” Goecke said.

A niece, Linda Graetz of Waltham, Mass., attributed Brodkey’s longevity to, among other things, her “joie de vivre,” an enthusiastic embracing of life. Her aunt was “a very positive person who, if you met her, wanted to know all about what you were interested in.” It was an attitude Brodkey was able to maintain even after daughter Dale Brodkey died in 1986 at age 40.

Brodkey also was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Morris H. Brodkey, whom she married in 1935. In addition to her son and niece, she is survived by three sisters, including Esther Graetz of Omaha, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be Monday at Beth El Cemetery, 84th and L Streets, at 10:30 a.m.

Contact the writer:

444-3106, andrew.nelson@owh.com