Barnard, Vermont

Dick Brodrick , 87, died at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center early in the morning of Monday, October 5. Never did anyone deserve a rest more than he. His fortitude in fighting off illness after illness during his last eight years seemed miraculous. Throughout each ordeal, he maintained his dignity, his sense of humor, his compassion for others, and his gentlemanly manners.

After his move to Vermont in 2005, he made many close friends who admired him greatly—though rarely were they allowed a glimpse of the top tier New York lawyer he once had been. Mostly silent and always modest about his professional achievements, he deliberately cut a Clark Kent figure here.

Born on November 27, 1932, to Richard Gordon Brodrick, Sr., and Helen O'Donnell Brodrick, Dick grew up in Claremont, New Hampshire, and attended Stevens High. After he graduated from Brown University, he joined the class of 1958 at Harvard Law School and became a friend of a classmate whom he knew at once to revere, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. He spent ten years at a small New York firm specializing in trusts and estates before he founded his own firm—Cross, Brodrick, & Chipman—with an emphasis on corporate law.

Dick's firm eventually became a 15-lawyer general practice successful enough to attract a merger, in 1980, with the large national and international firm of Kelley, Drye & Warren. Dick served on its Executive Committee until his retirement in 2000. The last ten years of his career focused on representing many broker-dealers and investment advisors. He provided legal and compliance services for full-line brokerage firms, investment banking and advisory firms, discount brokers, and many of the largest specialist firms on the New York Stock Exchange. He managed and participated in major arbitration and enforcement actions. For three years after his retirement, he served as an arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dick's interests beyond the law were many. When he was living in New Canaan, Connecticut, he headed the Child Guidance Clinic there. Throughout his life, he was an avid and serious reader, a fine raconteur, an excellent golfer, a generous host, and a jovial drinking buddy.

Dick is survived by his cherished wife of 45 years, Anne Boeley Brodrick, who enjoyed exotic travels with him when he was well, and later cared for him so faithfully that he stayed in this world a lot longer than his doctors predicted. His survivors also include his three children from his first marriage: Jessica McCurdy of Wilmington, North Carolina; Laura Piazza of Tampa, Florida; and David Brodrick of Barnard, Vermont. His three grandchildren are Austin Piazza, James McCurdy, and Jaclyn McCurdy.

The Cabot Funeral Home of Woodstock is handling all arrangements. A service given in his memory will be private. An on line guest book can be found at cabotfh.com