Brian James Braddock

Brian James Braddock, age 65 of Petoskey, died September 20, 2022 at the McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital in Petoskey.

Brian was born on June 15th, 1957, the adopted son of James Norcross and Evelyn Jean Beihl. Brian loved life to the fullest and always enjoyed family and friends. He was an avid golfer, but like most, never scored as well as he'd hoped. He enjoyed the thousands of rounds he played with family and friends, in particular, the 5 hole-in ones he got to witness.  

Brian was a Christian man, a believer, and enjoyed his bible studies with the men's Tuesday bible study at the Methodist Church of Petoskey, in addition to his Wednesday morning studies with Dave Hills. Thursday evenings he could be found at Celebrate Recovery at the Walloon Lake Community Church. His "Walk to Emmaus" prepared him for his health challenges that began in October of 2007.

He was a banker for 32 years and loved working with his clients in the community, many of whom became friends. He then worked in economic development where he was able to work closely with people pursuing their dreams. Brian started his career at the Peoples Bank & Trust in Grand Haven when he was still in high school. He graduated from Grand Haven Senior High School in 1975. Later, he graduated from Muskegon Community College and then went on to Northern Michigan University where he was a proud member of the Lamda Chi Alpha fraternity. He got his degree from the NMU School of Banking and later acquired his master's degree in banking from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He helped open First Community Bank of Petoskey in 1993 and was there until 2008. He was a member of the adjunct faculty at North Central Michigan College from 1982-1994. He was the chairman of multiple non-profit boards of directors and was a regular at the 7am bistro coffee club.  

The greatest honor of Brian's life were his three sons, Keith (Betony), Cameron (Alex), and James. He was blessed by three grandchildren (Ophelia, Marlowe, and Beau) who brought him great joy. He was married to Kathleen A. Barnett for many years and later married Kathy J. Braddock from 2006-2015. Brian has three sisters Patti (Ronn) Griffis, Pam (Mark) Forsberg, and Becky (Frank) Steinhauer. He was preceded in death by his father, James Norcross in 1981 and his mother Evelyn in 1997.

A memorial service celebrating Brian's life will be held on October 1st at 11am at the Trinity Missionary Church of Petoskey.  The family will receive friends at the church on October 1 from 10am until the time of service. 

In lieu of flowers, any donations or memorials, should be made to the Manna Food Project. 

"Believe in the Lord, He is at your side" was a favorite bible verse that he would like you to embrace.