Robert Broshar

Robert Broshar passed away on May 4, 2017 in Green Valley, Az.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 20, at 2 p.m., at the Sullivan Brothers Veterans Museum at the Grout Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, with a reception following.

Memorials may be directed to the Waterloo Center for the Arts, the Iowa Architectural Foundation or Central Gardens in Clear Lake.

Bob was born at Presbyterian Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa, on May 20, 1931, son of Stella Scott and Clare McDanel Broshar. He graduated from West Waterloo High School and Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1954. The previous year, he married his high school sweetheart Joyce Lukes at First Methodist Church, in Waterloo.

Following two years as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, they returned to Waterloo, where Bob began his practice of architecture. He became a partner in the firm that became Thorson Brom Broshar Snyder Architects, now INVISION Architecture. He was the Partner-in-Charge of many notable Cedar Valley and Iowa projects including the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, the Communications Center at the University of Iowa, renovations and additions to Maucker Union and Seerley Hall at the University of Northern Iowa, Waterloo Savings Bank (now US Bank) headquarters and four branch offices, First Federal Savings Bank, Black Hawk County Jail, Young Arena and multiple projects at Allen Hospital spanning from 1962 to 1996.

Bob provided strong service and leadership in his profession and community, as a board member of the Black Hawk County Cancer Society, president of the YMCA of Black Hawk County, director of First Federal Savings Bank, and member of the Governor’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.  He served on the Goodwill Board and Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Bob’s support of the architectural profession began in school, serving as president of the student chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He was elected president of the Iowa Chapter in 1982 and subsequently was elected to represent the Central States five state region on the National AIA Board. He was elected to two terms as a vice president and was elected as the 59th president of the Institute, serving that role in 1983. He addressed national architecture societies in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, and led delegations to Peru and Guatemala on designing for natural disasters. Bob was also a delegate to the UIA Congress in Poland and the Pan American Federation of Architects. He was elevated to Fellowship in the AIA, received Honorary Fellowship in the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and was an Honorary Member of the Mexican and Guatemalan Societies of Architecture.

  Bob was a founding member and chair of the Iowa Architectural Foundation, as well as the ISU College of Design Foundation. His work as chair of the Iowa Barrier-Free Architecture Task Force led to his receiving the Distinguished Service Award of the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped and the Leon Chatelain Award from the National Easter Seal Society.  He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Iowa State University and the Medal of Honor from the Iowa AIA.

Upon retirement, Bob and Joyce moved to Clear Lake, and then split their time between Clear Lake and Green Valley, before moving full time to Green Valley in 2014. Bob was active in Clear Lake and Mason City, as a founding board member of Wright on the Park restoring the Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel in Mason City, vice-chair of the River City Historical Society, and serving on the board of directors and as project director for Central Gardens in Clear Lake.

Robert is survived by Joyce, his wife and best friend of nearly 63 years; sister, Patricia (Edgar) Hermann, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; children, Scott (Wendy) of Chelsea, Mich.; Michael (Mary), of Buckingham, Iowa; Matthew (Diane), of Marshalltown, Iowa; Patrick (Sherri), of Meridian, Id.; Elizabeth (Robert) Russett, of Clive, Iowa; 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Bob led an engaged and busy life. He was a mentor for all he worked with, a great storyteller, and remembered the names of just about everyone he met. He was very proud of his family and enjoyed spending time with them at the lake. He made many friends in the places he lived and around the world, and will be greatly missed.