Roberta Brogan
Roberta (Bobbie) Brogan, 93, passed away on Sunday, December 8, 2019, at Palos Verdes Senior Living in Peoria, Arizona, with her family at her side. She lived a blessed life full of love for her family, for her dogs, and for golf.
Bobbie was born April 25, 1926, in Philadelphia, to the late Joseph and Beatrice Werz Blakiston, and spent most of her youth in Swarthmore. Losing their father, Daddy Joe, when Bobbie was 11, Bobbie and her sister Jean joined their mother at the Ingleneuk Tea House on Park Avenue in Swarthmore, where they worked throughout their teens. Bobbie graduated from Swarthmore High School on June 6, 1944. She would often share with friends that, upon awakening that morning, she heard the town’s church bells tolling. Her first thought was that they were celebrating graduation day. They were not. It was D-Day, a joyful but scary day for the graduates.
Following World War II, Bobbie met and married her husband of 50 years, Charles C. Brogan, Jr. During their honeymoon, she was introduced to golf (Charlie’s idea), and over the course of the 1970s and 80s she would win 15 club championships at Eagles Mere Country Club. Bobbie and Charlie settled in Swarthmore and adopted the first of at least 15 dachshunds, Brogan’s Folly. The couple had two sons, Charles C. Brogan III (Chip) and Barry Blakiston Brogan, and built a summer cottage in Eagles Mere, Pennsylvania. When Charlie retired in 1983, they moved to Sun City, Arizona, but continued to spend summers in Eagles Mere at Bobbie’s beloved Low Knob. Bobbie loved many things: her golfing girlfriends; traveling in her motor home (the dog-mobile); visiting Charlie’s sister and family at the shore at Bethany Beach, Delaware; and the occasional piece of chocolate.
Roberta Blakiston Brogan was predeceased by her sister Jean (1974), and her husband Charles C. Brogan Jr. (2000). She is survived by her son Chip and daughter-in-law Debby Brogan of North Andover, Massachusetts; grandchildren Charles Carson Brogan IV (Carson), McCallum (Callie) Brogan Ambrosino, (Tobey); and Blakiston (Blake) Paul Brogan; and great-grandchildren Lucus James Brogan and Adley Brogan Ambrosino. Roberta is also survived by her son Barry and daughter-in-law Rosanne Brogan of Saranac Lake, New York; grandchildren Joseph Blakiston Brogan and Hannah Saranac Brogan; and nieces Joan Kelley O’Day (Jack) and Carol Kelley Psaros (Perry), all of Bethany Beach, Delaware.
A graveside service for family at the Eagles Mere Community Cemetery will be planned.
Memorial Contributions in Bobbie’s memory may be sent to the Eagles Mere Foundation, P.O. Box 402, Eagles Mere, PA 17731, or to the Seasons Hospice Foundation, 1144 East Jefferson St., Phoenix, AZ 85034, or seasonsfoundation.org.
To send condolences, or sign the e-guestbook, please go to homerfuneralhome.com.
