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Timothy "Tim" Bratton Obituary

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Timothy "Tim" Bratton

Jamestown, North Dakota

April 21, 1947 - August 1, 2019

Timothy "Tim" Bratton Obituary

Timothy Lynn Bratton passed away in Minot, ND, on August 1, 2019. He was born on April 21, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio, to David B. and Shirley (Gremb) Bratton, and raised in the house built by his great-grandfather in Brecksville, Ohio, along with his two younger brothers, Daniel and Matthew.

Tim graduated from Brecksville/Broadview Heights Senior High School in 1965. He attended Baldwin Wallace College, earning a BA in history in 1969, and then an MA in history from Michigan State University. He achieved a PhD in Medieval History from Bryn Mawr College in 1979. He met his wife, Phyllis, there in a Seminar on the Fifth and Sixth Centuries and they married on June 7, 1975.

Tim was a research librarian at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and later worked at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, editing their Transactions and Studies. He also volunteered at the Mutter Museum, working with skeletons and accurately recalibrating the cranial measurements of the Hyrtl skull collection. He taught in the weekend school at Villanova University.

In 1982, Tim came to Jamestown College, where he taught medieval, European, and Near Eastern history, along with a variety of other subjects, including philosophy, astronomy, and the history of disease. He loved teaching and working with his students, liberally lacing his lectures with anecdotes, jokes, and puns. He retired in 2015, later becoming Professor Emeritus.

Tim was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, which he served in many capacities, including lay reader, lay preacher, musician, vestry member, and senior warden. For thirteen years he played viola with the Praise Band on Sunday nights. He was also invited to take services in the larger community.

Tim loved astronomy and for many years wrote an astronomy column for The Jamestown Sun. He was able to help program the radio telescope in Green Bank, WV, one summer and participated for several years in the Prairie Nights program in Medora. He was a dedicated chess player and played members of the Chess Club every Tuesday morning.

His great passion was music, and he was often heard driving around Jamestown with Mahler or Bruckner blasting out of his car. He played piano, violin, and viola, preferring viola. Every summer, he enjoyed attending the senior session at the International Music Camp in the Peace Gardens. In addition to playing for many years in musical productions at the Jamestown College/University and the high school, he played with the Southern Nevada Symphony Orchestra and was a supply violist for the Bismarck/Mandan Symphony Orchestra. He taught violin and viola at the Two Rivers Performing Arts School, where he had students from seven years old to adult, and enjoyed his time with them.

For the last two months of his life, Tim was happy to be working as a tour guide and researcher at the 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse, where he would frequently jump up to tell about a new discovery he had made in the old minutes.

Tim was a serious person but not a solemn one, and any stories about him result in shouts of laughter. He especially loved playing with his grandchildren.

Tim is survived by his wife, Phyllis, his children Anna Bratton (Nick Moen), David (Shannon) Bratton, Christina (Anthony) Calvillo, grandchildren Sophie, Thayer, and Romi Bratton, brothers Daniel (Carol) Bratton and Matthew (Kathy) Bratton, brothers-in-law Paul (Linn) Kreckman, and Jim (Judy) Kreckman, aunt and uncle Carol and Bob Kubicek, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Family will be receiving friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Friday, August 9, 2019 at Williams Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM, Saturday, August 10 at Grace Episcopal Church, Jamestown, ND with Fr. Robert Hoekstra officiating.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the International Music Camp, the 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse Committee, Grace Episcopal Church, or the University of Jamestown Endowment Fund.

Williams Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

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Visitation

Williams Funeral Home, Jamestown
  • Email Details
  • 421 First Avenue South
    Jamestown, North Dakota 58401

Memorial Service

Grace Episcopal Church

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Timothy Lynn Bratton passed away in Minot, ND, on August 1, 2019. He was born on April 21, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio, to David B. and Shirley (Gremb) Bratton, and raised in the house built by his great-grandfather in Brecksville, Ohio, along with his two younger brothers, Daniel and Matthew.

Tim graduated from Brecksville/Broadview Heig

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