Warren K. Braucher,
94, of Bowdoin Road, Ipswich, husband of the late Sheila F. (Caffrey)
Braucher, died Saturday, October 30, 2010 in his home.
Born in Kutztown,
Pennsylvania October 20, 1916, the only child of the late William W.
and Almeda (Kohler) Braucher, he was raised in Kutztown and was a
graduate of local public schools. He later attended and graduated
from Oberlin College in Ohio and in 1941 received his masters degree
in social work from the Boston University School of Social Work.
He met Sheila at the beginning of their first year of graduate
school and married her just before the start of the second year. For
two years he worked as a case worker for the St. Louis Family &
Children’s Services, then in 1943 he entered U.S. Army serving as
a Sergeant and psychiatric social worker at Camp Butner, North
Carolina. Following his honorable discharge, he took a job as the
Home Service Director for the Red Cross in Lawrence. For eleven
years he served as Executive Director Worcester Children’s Friend
Society. For the next twelve years he served as the Executive
Director of Children’s Village in Hartford, Connecticut, retiring in
1982. He then was employed as an interim director with the Harford
Community Mental Health Center in Hartford.
Throughout his
professional career he also served as a Secretary with the
Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange, was an Advisory Board
member with the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare, served
as President of Massachusetts Conference on Social Services, was a
member of Massachusetts Committee on Children and Youth, and was
President of the Northeast Regional Conference of Child Welfare
League of America and of Connecticut Associations of Child Caring
Agencies.
Mr. Braucher was
also a Goldstar member of the National Association of Social
Workers, a member of the Ipswich Bay Yacht Club, Friends of the
Ipswich Library, Ipswich Historical Society and a longtime and
devoted member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Gloucester where he
served on the church council. In
addition to his devotion to family and his work he retained a
strong connection with his Pennsylvania Dutch heritage through
family, friends and the Kutztown Historical Society. Warren was a
true gentleman and his caring attitude won him the love and loyalty
of many.
He is survived by two sons, William M. Braucher and
his wife Nannette of West Newton and John W. Braucher of Gloucester;
three daughters, Julie F. Pierce of Ashland, OR, Mary Muckenhoupt
and her husband Neil of Chaplin, CT and Sarah Braucher Manzo and her
husband
Lenny of Essex; nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
A memorial funeral
service will be 10:30 am, Saturday November 27, 2010 in St. Paul's
Lutheran Church, 1123 Washington Street, Gloucester. Family and
friends are respectfully welcomed. Arrangements are under the
direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral of Ipswich. In lieu of
flowers memorial contributions in his name may be made to North
Shore ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens), 64 Holten Street,
Danvers, MA 01923.
