Vincent Lyons Broderick ’41

Judge "Vin'' Broderick, of Pelham Manor, N.Y., died of cancer on Mar. 3, 1995, in a Needham, Mass., hospice. He prepared at Andover. At Princeton, Vin majored in history, played rugby, swam, and was managing editor of the Prince, in the Catholic Club, and a member of Quad.

War service came after he had started at Harvard Law. He joined the Army's amphibious engineers, served in New Guinea, the Philippines, and post­war Japan, left the service as a captain, and finished up at Harvard in 1948.

Courage of all sorts was a common commodity throughout our war-ravaged class. Vin Broderick's courage carried over into public life when N.Y.C.'s Mayor Wagner made him police commissioner. In his first and unprecedented major appointment, he named a black captain to head a precinct, saying, "If you will tolerate ... one attitude toward a white citizen … and a different attitude toward another citizen who is a Negro or speaks Spanish — get out right now." Political pressure made Yale's John Lindsay demand a Civilian Review Board. Vin refused. "We have civilian control of the Police Department." So out he went, but on to a distinguished career as a Federal Judge for the rest of his life.

Survivors include his widow, Sally Brine; daughters Ellen, Joan, Mary, and Kathleen Baird; sons Justin and Vincent J.; brother Joseph; and eight grandchildren. We extend our deepest sympathy to all of them.