Thomas F. Broden, Jr.

Thomas F. Broden, Jr.

Thomas F. Broden, Jr., Jan. 3, 1924–Nov. 20, 2020. Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame Thomas F. Broden, Jr., 96, of South Bend, Indiana, passed away on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at his home in South Bend. He was the first of Thomas F. and Helen (English) Broden’s two children.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, Broden studied at Cathedral High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, also earning honors as city tennis champ. Cathedral’s Fighting Irish took the Indianapolis football championship in his senior year, whereupon Coach Tony Hinkle offered him a full scholarship to Butler University. He undertook a B.A. at Butler in 1941, lettering in football and basketball. He always remembered Coach Hinkle as an intelligent man genuinely prized by all who knew him.

World War II cut short Broden’s studies: he was drafted into the Army, selected for the Air Corps, and made navigator in a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew destined for the European theater. After processing at Fort Benjamin Harrison near Indianapolis, he trained successively in St. Petersburg FL, Kansas State University, Denver, and multiple locations in California. Just before he was to deploy to England, the armistice was signed with Germany, and Second Lieutenant Broden left the army with an honorable discharge in 1945.

Broden earned a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Notre Dame in 1949, then a doctorate at the University of Chicago Law School the following year. Based on Broden’s work with the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.) community projects, Judge Roger Kiley from Chicago and Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, President of Notre Dame, recruited him to return to teach law at his alma mater. Broden joined the faculty of the ND Law School in 1950 and would work for the university for the rest of his career. He was admitted to the Indiana Bar, of which he remained a member until well into retirement.

In June 1949, Tom married Joanne Green, also of Indianapolis, with whom he had five children. In South Bend, the family were members first of Holy Cross Catholic Church, then Saint Augustine, where Tom served on the parish council, proclaimed the Word in a stirring deep baritone, and took tremendous joy in the community fellowship.

At Notre Dame, Broden taught a wide variety of courses, including jurisprudence, criminal law, and administrative law. Inspired by the writings of Saint Thomas Aquinas, he conceived of the law as an instrument to advance the greater good, and in particular to protect the rights and dignity of individuals with less power and influence in society. He worked tirelessly to bring the university and the local community together so that each could learn and grow from interactions with the other.

In 1970, at Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh’s request, Broden founded and directed the university’s Institute for Urban Studies that developed research, teaching, and community outreach activities in order to promote equal opportunity, enhance urban ministry, and assist individuals in need. He chaired ND’s Affirmative Action Committee, was a member of the campus-wide Academic Council, and served as Assistant Dean of the Law School (1965–1967). He designed and taught for many years a service-learning course “Law and Poverty,” in which students spend a semester working with a local community organization. The dapper professor’s days only officially began once he donned his dress shirt, tie, and suit or sport jacket—most often Notre Dame blue with gold buttons. Former ND Law School student then Professor Rev. David T. Link took a class from Broden, then returned years later to serve as his Dean for fifteen years. He recalls that Broden “was a great professor,” and “as a community leader, he was magnificent. He was very caring.”

Broden created and directed the Law School’s innovative Legal Aid Program, in which ND law students work as lead attorneys on indigent parties’ cases in the community and greater region, under the supervision of faculty members. In this capacity, he helped many future lawyers argue habeas corpus cases for death-row inmates in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. The program became a model for clinical legal education and service adopted by many other law schools throughout the country. Prof. Robert L. Jones, Associate Dean of the ND Law School, emphasizes that Tom “created novel institutions and strategies to redress poverty and racial injustice.”

During a leave from the university, Broden worked as Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (Feb. 1955–Jan. 1957), for which he served as staff attorney in charge of the first Civil Rights bill since reconstruction, and helped to found the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. In 1965, he worked with the Federal Government to found the nationwide Legal Services Program that provides counsel to low-income individuals. During a second leave, he directed training and technical assistance for the Anti-Poverty program of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity under Sargent Shriver, then Donald Rumsfeld (1967–1969).

In the community, Broden co-founded or helped direct over a dozen organizations to enhance the area’s quality of life, including the South Bend Human Rights Commission, the Park Board, St. Joseph County United Way, the United Religious Community of St. Joseph County, and the Northern Indiana Historical Society. He developed a coalition for multi-cultural education and worked for legal safeguards to protect imprisoned juveniles. Tom advocated for neighborhood conservation and for inter-religious cooperation and understanding. He regularly served as pro-bono counsel for indigent persons and for those engaged in non-violent protest for social justice. He fought against homelessness, pressed for affordable housing for the disabled and disadvantaged, and advocated fiercely for group homes to house those experiencing mental challenges. In August 1966, Tom drove Martin Luther King, Jr. and Father Hesburgh from Notre Dame to Chicago and marched with them in the Chicago Freedom Movement for housing rights.

Broden worked on many local political campaigns, including those of U.S. Congressman John Brademas, South Bend Mayor Roger Parent (Treasurer 1980–1988), St. Joseph County Council Member Theodessa Earles, his own son South Bend Common Councilor, Indiana State Senator, and St. Joseph Circuit Court Judge John Broden (Treasurer), and most recently his daughter-in-law South Bend Common Councilor Jo M. Broden. Whether as campaign manager or serial volunteer, he wielded two secret weapons: a detailed, meticulously maintained file on supportive voters and activists that dated back years, and the ability to out-fold, out-stuff, and out-lick any opposing mass-mailing operation. 

Throughout his life, Broden received many honors, including St. Joseph County Democrat of the year (1962) and Outstanding Catholic Layman of the diocese (1966). Pope Paul VI inducted him as a Knight into the papal Order of St. Gregory the Great, a title discerned to lay persons for “the renown of their deeds” (1965). Father Hesburgh conferred on him a special University of Notre Dame Presidential Award (1976), describing him as a man “who has worked tirelessly in local ecumenical endeavors, who has achieved legal safeguards against inhuman treatment of incarcerated juveniles, who has developed a model multi-cultural educational strategy for our community, […] a man who has brought the best of the academy to the promise of our city.” The university also distinguished him with its Reinhold Niebuhr Award for Social Justice (1978) and its John Cardinal O’Hara award that acknowledges former employees “whose personal life reflects the principles for which Notre Dame stands” (1995). South Bend organizations honored him with the Outstanding Citizen Award for Service to the Community (1983), and inducted him into the Kwanzaa African American Council of Elders (2000) and the South Bend Community Hall of Fame (2003).

Former ND Law School Dean Patricia O’Hara notes that “Over the years, the University and local community bestowed on Tom every possible honor to recognize his unparalleled service to those in our midst who are most marginalized — tributes he did not seek and never mentioned.” Broden’s volunteer service and many awards prompted two of his young grandsons to ask their mother, “Is grandpa a saint?”

Tom relished activities with his beloved wife of seventy years, from conversing, sharing meals, and playing contract bridge, to traveling, worshiping, and engaging in community action. His devoted and enduring love made him never miss a good-night kiss, and turned him into her stalwart protector and comforting companion through her last years. Tom reveled in spending time with the entire family, and annually convened Broden Summer Vacation Week and epic Christmas holiday gatherings–earning many Christmas tree seasonal longevity awards. And from the magnificent to the mundane, he photographed every family event! His pride and interest in his children and grandchildren knew no limits. This made-to-order father-in-law never met a fruit pie he didn’t love, and his grandchildren knew him as an ever-willing partner for card or board games, duck pond outings, endless swing-set pushes, tea parties, and children’s book readings. He enjoyed brisk walks and jogs in the neighborhood with his part toy-dachshund faithful friend Ginger. 

A lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, Tom held ND football and basketball season tickets for decades. He took great pleasure in gardening, lavishing extra TLC on his varicolored array of tea roses. He regularly read the South Bend Tribune, the New York Times, and the National Catholic Reporter cover to cover—armed with pencil, pen, and notepad in his breast pocket. His music tastes went above all to Frank Sinatra, as well as to Broadway musicals, jazz and dance-band tunes of his youth, Christmas carols, and the occasional Beethoven symphony.

Tom possessed an enduring faith in mankind, a dry sense of humor, and an ironic outlook on life and institutions. In his later years, he cherished the special visits of friends Dan Mandell, Father Chuck Lavely, and John Charles Bryant. Many caregivers, nurses, therapists, and social workers have blessed him and his family with their loving, lively, engaging care—and he was often their favorite client! Special thanks go to aspiring nurses Katie and Jenna Gray, to longtime caregiver Amanda Neal and her delightful daughter Samantha, and to hospice nurse Jennifer Smudey Taets. They and family members knew him as a man of immense habit, simple needs, always feeling “sensational,” and grateful unto his last hours.

Tom himself recently summed up his time on this earth, “It’s been a great run.” During his last days, a beautiful golden tea rose blossomed on his patio. His family would summarize his presence among us: Acted justly. Walked humbly. Loved tenderly.

Broden was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Mary, and his wife Joanne. He is survived by his five children and their spouses Judith Ellen Broden Hopkinson (Dennis Hopkinson), Thomas F. Broden, III (Marcia Stephenson), Timothy P. Broden, Jane Ann Broden (Bill Chesanek), and John E. Broden (Jo M. Maternowski Broden); by nine grandchildren and their spouses Elizabeth McInerny, Brian Hopkinson (Melissa Headly Hopkinson), Dennis Hopkinson (Karen McIntyre Hopkinson), Alan Hopkinson, Will Chesanek, Brian Chesanek, Ana Marie Broden, John Francis Broden, Charles Joseph Broden; and by great grandchildren Owen and Claire Hopkinson.

Devoted servant, repose in well-earned peace! May cherubs’ melodies gladden your spirit, and may scores of saints bring you solace and cheer. Rejoice in your celestial abode, until we can hope to gather together again. 

Father Leonard Collins, C.S.C., will officiate burial rites graveside at the University of Notre Dame Cedar Grove Cemetery. A memorial mass will be celebrated at St. Augustine’s Parish at a later date. 

The family welcomes donations to the Soup Kitchen or to the General Fund of Saint Augustine Catholic Church, or to the Foundation for the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, a 501(c)(3) organization (for which donors may indicate “Greatest Need Fund” if they wish).

Saint Augustine Catholic Church, P.O. Box 3198, South Bend, IN 46619–0198.

Hospice Foundation, 501 Comfort Place, Mishawaka, IN 46545.

Thomas Broden was born on 3 Jan. 1924 in Marion County, Indiana.

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