Billie Bramhall

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Billie Bramhall's Memorial Service

Jul 6, 2019, 2:00 PM US/Eastern

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First Unitarian Society of Denver

1400 Lafayette Street, Denver, CO, USA

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Billie Bramhall

December 08, 1926 - May 09, 2019

Join us in celebrating the life of Billie Bramhall. Contribute to this lasting memorial by sharing stories, memories, photos, and videos. A memorial service will be held at 2 pm on July 6th at the First Unitarian Society of Denver at 1400 N Lafayette St, Denver, CO 80218. We will post updates with event... see more

OBITUARY

Shirley (Billie) Bramhall died on May 9th 2019 peacefully in her sleep after a short bout with pneumonia in Denver, Colorado. Her life was dedicated to city planning, social activism, family, and friends.Billie was born in 1926 to first generation Americans Isadore Willinger and Kate Willinger née Gluck in the Bronx, New York. She graduated from Hunter College High School in 1943 and after attending three years at Hunter College, she... see moreShirley (Billie) Bramhall died on May 9th 2019 peacefully in her sleep after a short bout with pneumonia in Denver, Colorado. Her life was dedicated to city planning, social activism, family, and friends.

Billie was born in 1926 to first generation Americans Isadore Willinger and Kate Willinger née Gluck in the Bronx, New York. She graduated from Hunter College High School in 1943 and after attending three years at Hunter College, she headed out west to complete her degree in Economics at the University of Colorado, Boulder where she met and later married David Bramhall. They had four children as they moved for school and work from Boulder to New York, to Denver, to Philadelphia, to Baltimore, to Pittsburgh, and finally back to Denver where she has lived and worked since 1975.

Along the way she earned her Master’s Degree from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. She worked as Deputy Director of city planning for Pittsburgh in the early 70’s, leaving that job to return to Denver and become the Division Chief of Neighborhood Planning in Denver under Mayor McNichols. In 1981 she left the city to become a Program Officer at The Piton Foundation and also established Bramhall & Associates, a consulting firm. In 1983 she was wooed back to the city by Mayor Pena to become Deputy Director of Neighborhood Planning and Director of Community Development. She was appointed to the Denver Housing Authority in 1984. After briefly working under the Webb Administration she retired from the city in 1996 at the age of 65.

Retiring did not slow her down. She served on many boards and committees and continued her consulting work for the rest of her life. Among many other things, she was a Trustee of Family and Children’s Services, deeply involved with the development of the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Plan and the original Golden Triangle Plan, chaired the Urban Design Committee and was honored for her years as a board member of Jewish Family Housing and Kavod Senior life (Her father spent the last 12 of his 100 years living there). In 2016 she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Denver INC, the Denver Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation group, for her “Commitment and Dedication to Denver Neighborhoods”.

For the past several years, until the time of her death, Billie worked tirelessly with Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL) working for the rights of those without homes. She used her many city and community contacts to amplify DHOL’s voices to city officials, helping to write a Colorado Bill of Rights for people experiencing homelessness, joining protests on the streets of Denver (We were glad she did not get arrested.), and much more. Known for decades as a community leader, and recently as an effective advocate for Denver’s homeless population, Mayor Hancock appointed Billie to sit on the Advisory Committee for Housing People Experiencing Homelessness last April. She was 91.

Billie lived a long and a good life. She was active and engaged throughout-- bringing people together, mentoring countless young people, finding ways to help when those around her had problems in need of solutions. She never sat still when there was something that needed to be done. She enjoyed theatre, baseball, gardening, travel, books, newspapers (!), learning new things, and people. She was outgoing and loved nothing more than having long, thoughtful conversations about almost anything with almost anyone.

She is survived by her beloved husband of over 70 years, David Bramhall. He was her partner intellectually and politically in their life-long work for social justice from the 40’s through 2019, including raising their voices during the McCarthy era, fighting for Desegregation and Civil Rights, working to end the Vietnam War, and protesting the danger of Nuclear power plants.

She leaves behind four children, Martha Robertson, Fred Bramhall (Mary Clark), Jenny Bramhall (Stuart Conway), and Becca Bramhall (David Heck); eight Grandchildren, Rachel Braun Horsch, Sarah Braun, Kenneth Robertson, Chris Conway, Laura Conway, Charlotte Conway, Isabel Bramhall-Heck, and Jack Bramhall-Heck; and two Great-Grandchildren, Caleb Horsch, and Noah Horsch. She deeply loved and was very proud of her family. We would also like to acknowledge her love and high regard for her beloved niece Gigi Brooks and her “adopted” daughter, Rocio Perez.

A memorial gathering will take place on July 6th at 2:00 p.m. at First Unitarian Society of Denver at 1400 Lafayette Street. We welcome all who were touched by Billie to attend. Please visit Billie’s site at GatheringUs.com and search memorials for Billie Bramhall to share your own memories, thoughts, pictures, songs, to learn more about Billie’s amazing life and to donate to Denver Homeless Out Loud or The Delores Project in her name.

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Jenny Becca Fred Bramhall added 5 photo(s) to the memorial Billie Bramhall:

June 30, 2019
Rayna Rubin:

May 27, 2019

Billie became a mentor to me after I finished Planning graduate school in Denver. She offered me the opportunity to work with her when she left the Piton Foundation and started her consulting firm. I loved working with Billie. It was a formative time... more
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Jana Everett:

May 26, 2019

I am saddened by Billie's passing. She was an impressive advocate for social justice.
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Fred Bramhall:

May 25, 2019

I have received a number of comments from mom's Zodiac Book club members, and will post them here.
Sandy Goodman--"A lovely obit for Billie is in today's DP"
Dottie Lamm--Great obit on Billie. Thought I knew her well, but had no idea how... more
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