Edward Stephen Brotzman, Jr. Obituary (1935 - 2020)

Edward Stephen "Steve" Brotzman Jr., 84, of St. Helena Island, SC, passed away at his home on July 20, 2020, surrounded by his loving family. He was born on July 30, 1935, to Edward S. Brotzman, Sr. and Marie Wilhelmina Coburn Brotzman of Collingswood, NJ. He is survived by the love of his life and wife of 48 years, Constance Young Brotzman, daughter Susan Kay Richards (James) and two grandchildren, Amber and Brandon, of Canton, GA, stepdaughters Jerri Ann Yancey (Joel) of Winter Park, FL, and Terri Lea Story of Broomfield, CO, and step grandsons Dalton Yancey and Kevin Story. He is also survived by his brother, Karl Derick Brotzman and wife, Kaye, of Washington, VA, nephew Michael Brotzman of Elkridge, MD and his first wife, Marilyn Kay Phillips of Alpharetta, GA. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, Bruce Coburn Brotzman of Haddonfield, NJ, and stepdaughter Cheryl Constance Story. He graduated from Drexel University in 1957 with a Masters degree in Chemical and Mechanical Engineering and went to work with the Sherwin Williams Paint Co. in Gibbsboro, NJ, as Senior Chemist. He remained with the company throughout his 40-year career, moving to Morrow, GA in 1967 to lead the newly constructed Research Laboratory as Director and Technical Services Manager. He joined the company's international corporate headquarters in Cleveland, OH as Vice-President Technical in 1988. He was a frequent international traveler, going to facilities in Iran, Spain, Germany, South America, Mexico and the Phillipines instructing on technical products in a variety of applications and advising foreign companies in partnership with SW. He was a highly respected source of technical information throughout the paint and coatings industry and was involved in a wide variety of projects, including dams, nuclear power plants, manufacturing facilities and construction in desert locations, to name a few. He retired in 1997, and he and Connie purchased their property on Dataw Island in 1998, and built their retirement home in 2001. Everyone who knew Steve can attest to his encyclopedic memory of his love of the spoken word. A friend once commented, "...if you asked him what time it was, he would tell you how to build a watch...". He never met a stranger and had some of his best conversations with the guys he would meet at the local convenience center. He loved the low country with a passion that made Connie jealous and relished his view of the marsh from his back deck, having disturbed as little as possible in what, to him, passed as landscaping. A large tree limb past its prime fell on his daughter's car because he was so adverse to cutting anything, preferring to leave it for the woodpeckers. Thereafter, when it stormed he would park his car on the opposite side of the driveway. He absorbed the rich history of Hunting Island like pluff mud and loved to retell the stories as he gave alligator and lighthouse talks at the park. During the last ten years he and Connie traveled the world, extending each trip as long as they could before moving on to another adventure the following year. It was cruel irony that, in this unbelievable year of 2020, cancer of the colon and pancreas would take him with only two short weeks notice. He accepted the grim prognosis and refused any medical interventions. He wanted to spend what time he had left at home with loved ones and his pups. The void he leaves is so many lives will never by filled because he was, literally, one of a kind. He did not want any formal services. He was cremated and his ashes will be scattered with Connie's when that time comes. "Don't cry because it's over - Smile because it happened." Theodor Seuss Geisel.