State Trooper for 32 Years, including Shinnston Stop, Veteran, Vernard Neal Brackenrich, Passes at 95
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on July 31, 2024
It is with heavy hearts we announce that our Dad, Vernard Neal Brackenrich, 95, passed away on July 26, 2024, in Bridgeport, WV, born April 14, 1929, in Rock Cliff, Greenbrier County, West Virginia.
He was preceded in death by his beautiful and lovely wife of 52 years, Violet Elizabeth Kirby Brackenrich; his parents, Augustus George 
“Gus” and Anona May Bryant Brackenrich; three brothers, William Rumelow, Chalmer Dotson “John C” and Cary Bell; his sisters, Nannie Owens, Georgie Williams, Vira Malcolm, Lelia Nicely, and sisters-in-law, Clara, Jean and Margaret.
“Gus” and Anona May Bryant Brackenrich; three brothers, William Rumelow, Chalmer Dotson “John C” and Cary Bell; his sisters, Nannie Owens, Georgie Williams, Vira Malcolm, Lelia Nicely, and sisters-in-law, Clara, Jean and Margaret.
He started school at the one- room schoolhouse on Kiefer Mountain, Greenbrier County, WV, and then graduated from Rupert High School.
After high school, he joined the US Air Force, August 8, 1949, serving honorably during the Korean War for four years.
After his military service, he joined the West Virginia State Police on June 14, 1954, where he was assigned to various detachments, including Welch, Smithers, Petersburg, Charlestown, Spencer, and Shinnston, retiring in 1986 at the rank of Captain.
He belonged to the Coal Valley Masonic Lodge No. 74 in Montgomery, WV, American Legion Post 200 and United Methodist churches located in Spencer, WV, and Lumberport, WV.
Vernard was known for his boundless energy and love of life. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, and gardening vegetables and flowers. He was a man who never met a hungry person he didn’t try to feed.
He had a great rapport with children; he drew many outlines of birds on his daughters’ arms and knees. He attended his daughters’ school events, where he observed from a distance to keep their nerves at ease. He made the best white gravy; he was an exceptional Florence Nightingale, and the best blower of the Merthiolate he painted on so many cuts and scrapes of his daughters.
He was always busy doing something outside or sitting on the back porch. He made you smile and his made-up songs made you laugh so hard. We loved hearing him sing us the song “Groundhog” and his favorite Christmas song was the “Little Drummer Boy.”
He leaves behind a legacy of love and dedication survived by his dearly loved and devoted wife, Janice A Brackenrich, who cared for him along with help from his daughters, Tia and Yon. Sadly and truly missed and we’ll be lost without him with broken hearts are his daughters, Tia Anonya Brackenrich Walsh and her husband Terry, and Yon Nealia Brackenrich Ballard and her husband David; grandsons, Sean L. and Joseph Neal Walsh.
Vernard will be remembered for his kindness, his unwavering support of his family and community, and his sense of humor, which brought joy to those around him. His legacy will live on in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.
We are very grateful for the kindness of the nurses from WVU Home Health Care and the nurses at United Hospital Center, Infusion Center. A huge thank you and appreciation from the bottom of our hearts to the Anmoore Ambulance and their Paramedics and EMTs for showing above and beyond kindness in the caring for our father and their ability to get him to every appointment that he had. We couldn’t have done it without them, especially Keith Linger, who became a very close friend of our Dad.
We would also like to thank Bridgeport Fire Department and Ambulance Service for all of their help and support with our Dad.
May God Comfort Him and Keep Him Safe In Eternal Life, Amen.
The family will receive friends at the Perine Funeral Home, 1348 S. Pike St., Shinnston, from noon-8 p.m., Friday, where funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, August 3. Interment will be in the Lumberport Lion’s Club Cemetery.
Condolences may be extended to the family at www.perinefunerals.com. The Perine Funeral Home is honored to serve the Brackenrich family.
