William Brodsky

Bill Brodsky lived a very full 80 years of life as a devoted husband, father, a railroad executive of the highest order, a fisherman, a college athlete, a lover of Jack Daniels, and good music he could sing and clap along to with a big smile. He was a mentor in some fashion to almost everyone he met and was incredibly respected as a man who always chose to do the right thing. Bill was born August 28, 1945, and passed away on January 19, 2026. If you ever asked Bill how he was, he always responded by saying “if I were any better, I couldn't handle it.” He loved life and lived each day as if it was a good day and this positive attitude was both inspirational and contagious to all who were fortunate enough to know him. 

Born to Shirley Mance and Buddy Karl Brodsky in Comax, BC, Canada, Bill was an only child and his parent’s pride and joy. He spent his high school years in Broadus, Montana, and his time there fishing on the Powder River and exploring the Black Hills remained a lifelong highlight for him.

Bill attended the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota, and graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He played quarterback on the football team after being recruited off the intramural squad by the college president Dr. Harvey Frasier. Bill constantly credited his mentors in life for his success, and Dr. Harv was one of the people at the very head of this honored list. In 2021, Bill was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for his skills running the offense for his beloved Hardrocker football squad. 

After college, Bill chose to proudly serve his country in Vietnam, joining the service as a lieutenant and putting his degree and skills to work in building bridges for the Army Corp of Engineers. 

Following his service, Bill went on a fishing trip with his best friend Charley Chambers in Washington State. He learned Charley was interviewing for a position with the Milwaukee Railroad. It happened to turn out that they were also looking to hire an assistant electrical engineer. This turn of fate is what started Bill’s lifelong passion and journey in the railroading business. 

While in Tacoma, he married Judy Price and they were blessed with two daughters. Bill went from working in Tacoma to Chicago, taking a position at the Santa Fe Railroad. They sent him to the University of Chicago to get his masters degree in business after seeing his potential as an executive. His time in Chicago lasted 11 years until he was called back to Montana, where he moved his family to Missoula to head up and become the president of the Montana Rail Link.

While running this company was his true life’s passion, he also found time to pursue his love of fly fishing in Montana’s finest rivers and streams and catch as many Griz football games as possible. Life was good and he appreciated living in the mountains and loved the views provided right out his door living in the Rattlesnake. 

Bill retired in 2016 and as life slowed down a bit, a battle with Alzheimer's became an issue in his life. He never seemed to waver or question the changes in his life this brought along. In a life led with positivity and no regrets, this final chapter of Bill’s time was no different. He chose to be both busy and happy and do the best with what life presented him with, just as he always had for the last 70 or so years of his stellar life. 

Bill spent the final months of his life in the care of the devoted team at Footsteps Memory Care at the Springs here in Missoula and his family is forever grateful for their love and support. 

He died peacefully with his wife and daughters by his side as they all reminded him how much they loved him.

If you define success as getting to do what you love each day, surrounding yourself with people that love you, always choosing to do the right thing (no matter the difficulty of the situation), paying tribute to your mentors and the people who helped you improve your life, and then just as importantly passing that gift on to many people who came after you in both the business and personal side of your life… If this is your definition of a life well lived then it is quite possible that no one lived a finer or more successful life than Bill Brodsky and those who were lucky enough to know him know this to be true. 

Bill proudly built an incredible family, a business and a life full of beautiful memories with friends and colleagues that will carry on long past his time here with us all. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Judy, daughter Jenny and husband Jason Brown, daughter Beth and husband Kelly Stensrud, and grandchildren Will Brown, Marcus Brown and Anna Stensrud. 

Per Bill’s request, he will be buried at the Black Hills Military Cemetery in Sturgis, South Dakota, next to his mother and father and his two uncles, William and Harvey. 

His family loves the idea of written memories of Bill to be read at the gravesite and kept for posterity, they ask those letters be mailed to:

Garden City Funeral Home - 1705 W Broadway St. Missoula, MT 59808

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to your favorite charity in Bill’s name.

A celebration of life will take place on Sunday, May 24, 2026, at The Old Post in Missoula from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm.