Harold “Wayne” Braa was driven by a passion for people and the place where he lived. That place was Monroe, and throughout his life, Braa was a key player in the town’s civic life.
A member of the Monroe Planning Commission since 1998, Braa had spent years as a younger man volunteering with Monroe’s police and fire departments.
Retired from the Boeing Co. after nearly 40 years, he had long juggled career, family and public involvement. He did it with humility and good humor.
“I think the main reason he did it, he loved people,” said Vicki Luxmore, 52, the eldest of Braa’s four children. “He always wanted to take care of people and make change for the better.
“He was never the type who wanted to make a name for himself. He just wanted to be involved,” said Luxmore, who lives in Monroe with her husband, Richard.
Called Wayne by all who knew him, Harold Braa died Nov. 28 in Monroe. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Elaine; his daughter, Vicki Luxmore; his sons, Randy, Kerry and Rick Braa; two sisters, Kathryn Kriegel and Maxine Gilbert; 12 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
Braa had undergone heart surgery recently, but he remained active.
Monroe City Clerk Betty King recalled that when she came to town in 1965, he was a reserve police officer. “He was also on our parks board,” said King, who was a friend of Braa’s for years.
“I think he wanted manageable growth. He still wanted that small-town feel,” King said.
David Demarest, chairman of the Monroe Planning Commission, said Braa “brought perspective to the planning process, having been a longtime resident.”
“It’s fair to say he was concerned about growth, concerned about traffic and concerned about maintaining quality of life in Monroe,” Demarest said. “He had a passion for the parks. We need more people like Wayne, willing to get involved, take a position and speak out.”
While it’s sometimes said that all politics are local, Braa’s interest in government stretched far beyond Monroe. Active in the Democratic Party, he and his wife attended the 1976 Democratic National Convention in New York City.
His son Randy Braa recalled that after the election, his parents were invited to the White House. They had pictures taken with President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter.
“He knew everybody from here to Canada,” said Randy Braa, adding that his father had been friends with the late Sens. Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson and Warren Magnuson.
It was Monroe, though, where he contributed much of his time.
“As a child, I remember it was like he had three jobs, at Boeing, as a volunteer fireman and as an auxiliary policeman. There were only two regulars (police officers) at the time, and my father wanted to be part of it,” Randy Braa said. He remembers his father on duty at the fairgrounds and at other gatherings around town.
Randy Braa said that love for Monroe went back to his father’s childhood.
“He came from a poverty-stricken family. His mother grew up in the Dakotas. In Seattle, at one point she lived in a chicken coop,” Randy Braa said.
Wayne Braa was born in 1931 in Buena, near Yakima. “They moved to Monroe in 1936 or ‘37,” Randy Braa said.
“His mom passed away at 40 of tuberculosis, and his father and sisters and the community raised the kids. As a little kid, he hung around town and became part of the woodwork. He’d been there ever since,” Randy Braa said. “Anything he could be part of, he was part of.”
Although Monroe was always home, Braa loved to travel. He and his wife had been all over Europe and had taken several cruises. Last spring, he went with Randy on a trip to China.
“It was the trip of his life. He was such a friendly guy. He absolutely loved everybody,” Randy Braa said.
For several days, Randy had to leave his father in one Chinese city while he traveled elsewhere on business. “I was anxious about it. He was older, the weather was hot and it was a foreign country,” he said.
Randy Braa returned to find that his father had been dining and shopping with the flight crew from the airliner they’d flown on to China. “He was just a character. He very easily met people, and he appreciated people,” Randy Braa said.
Demarest, the planning commission chairman, said that even in meetings lasting three hours, even dealing with an avalanche of documents, “Wayne always had a sense of humor. He made us smile.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@ heraldnet.com.
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