Brogan Jr. is remembered as “a giant in the Philadelphia jewelry industry”
Byard F. Brogan Jr. (pictured), who for 52 years headed the well-regarded Philadelphia retailer began by his father, died April 29. He was 85.
According to an online obituary, following his 1949 graduation from Episcopal Academy, Brogan Jr. worked at the family jewelry company founded by his father in 1908. He also took business classes at the Wharton School of Business and Commerce and served in the Army Medical Service Corps.
Initially located on Sansom Street in Philadelphia, Byard F. Brogan Inc. moved to 8th and Walnut, and in 1966, to its current location in Glenside, Pa.
“Mr. Brogan was a very special man,” says Meier Opalek, AGS guild development coordinator. “He really was a giant in the Philadelphia jewelry industry yet so unassuming and friendly. He was always very supportive of my early guild’s work and made sure to come to all of our meetings. I am proud and honored to have grown up in this industry basking in his light.”
Brogan Jr. was a sportsman and dog lover, and in his spare time, he enjoyed photography, maintaining houses, cars, and boats, and spending time on the water.
Brogan Jr. married his first wife Grace Myrick in 1969. She died in 1979. Four years later, he married Paula Borz. They remained married until her death in 2014.
He is survived by two children, Katherine Brogan and Byard F. Brogan, and three grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Foulkeways Stewardship Fund, Foulkeways at Gwynedd, 1120 Meetinghouse Rd., Gwynedd, Pa. 19436.
(Photo courtesy of Byard F. Brogan Inc.)
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