Robert Bruce Broadhurst, Jr.

Businessman, Boating Enthusiast, Community Volunteer

Robert Bruce Broadhurst Jr., 87, a Sandy Springs businessman and community volunteer, passed away at his home Saturday, the 11th June 2016 surrounded by his loving family, after suffering from pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife, Janice, sons Robert Broadhurst III and Jeffery Broadhurst, daughters Janice Thompson, Nancy Dellaria and Arlene Martinides, step-children Ray White and Jenny Kirby, their spouses, 13 grandchildren, his sister Carol Longo and brother Donald Broadhurst. Bruce was preceded in death by his first wife, Joan Broadhurst, a Sandy Springs piano teacher to whom he was married for 39 years. He was lucky to find love again, marrying Janice White, an Atlanta piano teacher, in 1994.

He was a tireless volunteer for Aberdeen Forest, his Sandy Springs neighborhood, holding various positions including president of the neighborhood association. He also represented the community in zoning and development issues. A mechanical engineer by training, Bruce sold commercial air conditioning units for 64 years, retiring only earlier this year. His career began in New Jersey before moving to Atlanta in 1957.

Bruce is known for pioneering use of rooftop air conditioning units in the Southeast, introducing the concept for Melchior, Armstrong, Dessau in 1957. He headed up a 9-state regional marketing operation for the company and trained manufacturers’ representatives on the new concept. He also worked in sales and marketing positions for Singer Climate Control (now McQuay), American Standard, Typhoon, and Temperature Control before starting Broadhurst-Overstreet, a manufacturers’ rep company, in 1974. Over his career, he convinced retailers such as Big Star, Kroger, Food Giant, Revco and Woolworth’s to standardize on roof-top air conditioning units.

His son, Robert Broadhurst said “He was such an enthusiastic salesman that he was always looking up to point out his roof-top units while driving the car. Once he was so busy showing recent installations to his boss that he rear-ended the car in front of him on the downtown connector. It became a much talked about story at the company’s sales convention that year.”

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1948, working as an electronics instructor and playing the trombone in a dance band. A graduate of Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, New York, he was born in White Plains, New York, to Helen and Robert Bruce Broadhurst Sr. in 1928.

An avid boater, Bruce and his wife owned a lakehouse near Gainesville on Lake Lanier. He spent every weekend on the lake, earning him the family nickname, “the captain.” He had a lifelong love of music and a keen interest in politics. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, uncle and friend. He will be dearly missed.

The family will greet friends Tuesday, the 14th of June from six until eight o’clock at a reception at H.M. Patterson & Son-Arlington Chapel, 173 Allen Road NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. The funeral will be held in the same location Wednesday, the 15th of June at eleven o’clock. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org) or the Atlanta Symphony (www.atlantasymphony.org