Christopher Brian Brodeur

To my brother Chris,
I am still in shock that you are gone. It feels surreal. Like I could pick up the phone and talk to you again. But I can't. I recently dreamed that I was talking to you again...but alas, I awoke and it was just a dream.
I have not only lost a brother, but also one of the few friends I've known from childhood.
We not only grew up in the same house(s) together, but we were also the only siblings who were one year apart in school (due to your December birthday).
I remember so many things...
♡Camping and waterskiing together in many lakes in northern and central California. (No wonder you loved MN so much!)
♡Our bike rides to Gulf Stream Elementary School when we lived in Miami. We knew we were late when we heard the patriotic song playing on the speakers.
♡When a group of my 5th grade classmates at our elementary school in S.D. kept threatening to beat me up. You were in 6th grade at the same school. After you and your friend Dave (Segar?) waited for them and threatened them, they did not pick on me again.
♡Us hanging out at the base pool at Ellsworth A.F.B. I was so distraught when I dropped the cheeseburger the handsome lifeguard Mark had sent me to get him at the snack bar. You spent your own 50 cents to get him another one for me.
♡The trips you, Steph and I made together to the base annex at Ellsworth AFB. You would get french fries or day-old donuts and share them with us.
♡Going to the base bowling alley together-you, Steph, and me.
♡Going to your soccer games in Rapid City, and how you got a spiral fracture.
♡In middle school, you telling John Humke that I had a crush on him, because you had secretly read my diary!
♡Watching you and Dickie duking it out in the basement in S.D., then the two of you becoming the best of friends again.
♡Playing add-ons on the trampoline in our backyard in S.D. with the neighbor kids all coming over.
♡When Dobie got out and pooped on a neighbor's doorstep, and Dad made you go and scoop up the frozen poop. In the snow.
♡Us playing "Kick the Can" with the neighbor kids until base curfew.
♡Us listening to the Carpenters' "Now & Then" album in surround sound in our big brother David's basement bedroom.
♡You driving Steph and me to high school in the Oldsmobile Cutlass that used to be our brother David's. We would listen to Toto IV along the way.
♡When our high school French teacher, Madame Schumick, asked you in French to give the answer to a question, you just stared silently down at your paper. I was mortified that my brother had not done his homework...only to learn years later it was a planned joke between you and your friend John.
♡You driving Stephanie and me to the beach in your orange Celica.
♡How a drunk driver ran a stop sign and t-boned you while you were driving the same orange Celica on your way to RCC. When the EMT's were taking your shoes off in the ambulance, you joked, "I don't think you want to do that."
♡Us carpooling to RCC and trekking from the parking lot to the campus with our heavy backpacks.
♡Hearing someone whisper my name in Navy bootcamp, when the two female and two male companies in our cohort were in formation. It was you! You could have gotten in trouble if you'd been caught. Thereafter, we wrote back and forth together about our experiences. It was so comforting to know that my brother was there.
♡Us hanging out together after bootcamp in Orlando, during our month of apprentice training for the Sea College program. People wanted to be around us because it made them feel like they were an extension of our family.
♡Watching you in a play in Orlando, where you and other sailors were chosen to play roles.
♡Both of us being at UCR at the same time- for a little while.
♡Mom and I crying in the kitchen together the day you left for Minnesota with Valerie and Christina.
♡The time when you, Valerie, the girls and I were on our way somewhere in December in MN. You stopped the car, got out, and helped someone whose car was stuck in the snow.
♡How shortly after the divorce when we were at a craft store in MN, the girls asked you to buy their mom something from them, and you did. You took the high road.
♡How you designed a hydraulics experiment for my kindergarten students to take home during Covid. They loved it!
♡You and I together in the hospital cafeteria when we got the message that Mom had passed.
Other memories.
☆How you always gave me comforting, gentle advice but never judged.
☆How you had a way of reframing things that helped me see them in a positive perspective.
☆How you loved your girls and spoke proudly about them.
☆How you loved your dogs and your cats and talked about them a lot.
☆You laughing and saying, "That's Peppa!" when we were talking on the phone and I could hear a kitty trilling in the background. Peppa adored you!
☆How you enjoyed telling me about stimulating Ted talks you had watched.
☆You sharing funny TikTok videos and silly dad jokes.
☆How you loved intellectual and philosophical debates, the big picture, and reminiscing.
☆You telling me many times that I'm a great teacher. Ever encouraging.
☆You saying that it's okay if I want to spend my own money on my class because it makes me happy.
😭....watching my friend's son and daughter talking together, realizing that I won't get to do that again with you until I see you in Heaven.
The song that most comforts me now is Carrie Underwood's "I Will See You Again"
https://youtu.be/vTnWFT3DvVA?is=EIheQotKlGdgYHwU

I'm deeply sorry for your loss. I had the privilege of working alongside Chris, and I will always cherish the laughter and the wisdom he brought to the office. I'm incredibly grateful I got the chance to know him as a brilliant colleague and a dear friend. He will be deeply missed.
Please accept my deepest condolences.

Chris was kind and gregarious, always ready with a laugh, eager to have a debate about almost anything, funny and smart. He adored his daughters and raised them to be amazing young women who adored him just as much. He was a friend before he was family, and we are so grateful that we were lucky enough to share so many years with him. He will be missed always. All our deepest condolences—Daphnee and Marie Rentfrow

I may have known Chris only briefly, but he truly left a special mark on my days. His endless jokes always brought a smile to my face, and it was clear he enjoyed sharing them. He was brilliant, inquisitive, and so charming. I really miss him and wish I had gotten to know him even better.

Chris was not only my brother but my best friend. There is not enough room to share all of the adventures we had growing up as Air Force brats, bouncing all over the country. We were only 18 months apart and shared so many of the same likes from theoretical to practical physics (including reverence for Dr. Elliot), politics to comics, Family Guy to The Far Side. We were always on the same plane, completing each other’s thoughts (almost always in the least PC way) and laughing uncontrollably at what we both knew was the punchline to some uncompleted joke. Our shared love of family-based humor (Jim Gaffagan), obnoxious humor (Bill Burr) and dark humor (Anthony Jesilnik) could keep us in stitches for hours. He loved his Dad Jokes and loved sending the most obnoxious ones to me via Messenger, roping me in like it was serious until he dropped the absolutely worst punchline. GROAN!
When we leave, we are judged by what we leave behind. His wonderful daughters, Christina and Katherine, are his gift and they were the light of his life. He truly would do anything for them, like drive half across the country to help with a move, go to an Anime expo or even attend a BTS concert-both without wearing a disguise! That is pure parental love.
Everyone that knew Chris is better for the experience. He was a wonderful human being, always trying to be helpful and understanding, building you up not tearing you down, forever teaching. The world, my world, will be a lesser place without him in it.
Love you brother. Til we meet again and start laughing.
Ted

We always looked forward to seeing Chris at family events. His unique sense of humor always made us laugh and smile. We are grateful he was able to come and celebrate our marriage in January. You will be missed and thought of often Chris