Obituary: Dr. Robert Braun, 95, Of Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT ? (From Abraham L. Green and Son Funeral Home): Robert Braun, 95, passed away on Dec. 26, 2023, at his home in Fairfield.

Bob was born in Vienna, Austria to Max and Karoline (Wosolsobe) Braun. He was sent to the United States by his parents along with his sister Johanna as a refugee, in 1939, on a kindertransport organized by Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus of Philadelphia, whose work is memorialized in the documentary, ?50 Children.? His other sister, Marta emigrated to Palestine earlier.

Bob and his sister Johanna lived with their cousin, Dr. Rudolf Braun, both graduating from Bassick High School. He is preceded in death by his sisters Johanna and Martha [ who also survived the war]. Due to the grit of his mother, his parents survived the war and his parents came to Bridgeport in 1946.

Bob wanted to be a naturalist, but his family required him to pursue a more practical profession. For several summers he worked as a Park Ranger at Wind Cave and at Yellowstone National Parks. As a raconteur with children to distract, Bob?s stories were particularly exciting, featuring bears, bison, policemen, cross country bus trips, getting briefly detained as an enemy alien, sailing across an inlet of Hiroshima Bay as a newlywed, and working at Hatch?s Ice Cream parlor (and many more).

Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving as a dentist with rank of first lieutenant. He met his beloved wife, Nancy Ruth Thomas at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where she was a nurse and where they trained to be stationed overseas. They returned to the U.S. where Bob completed an orthodontics degree at Tufts University. They settled in Bridgeport and later in Fairfield, where they raised their six children.

As a birdwatcher in his youth and then with Nancy, Bob was a longtime member of the Connecticut Audubon Society, and served as a board member and president. Fueled by Nancy?s vision and by child labor, Bob transformed a piece of old gravel pit along Mill River into a wildlife sanctuary by planting thousands of trees and shrubs.

For 40 years, they hosted an annual 4th of July reunion of far-flung relatives and friends in their beautiful yard. Bob and Nancy took their children backpacking, learned technical rock climbing in their 40s, built a log cabin to celebrate 1976, and went adventuring with grandchildren into their 70s. Together, they pursued a post-retirement career as antiquarian book dealers and enjoyed nature travel abroad. They became authors by identifying each plant drawn by John James Audubon in the 435 prints of Birds Of America, publishing a ?Concordance? that remains a handy reference.

Bob is survived by his children, Dr. Thomas Braun (Jae) and Kathryn Braun of Fairfield, Jennifer Braun of Bridgeport, David Braun (Rebecca Nelson) of Hood River, Oregon, and Betsy Mendelsohn (Eric) of Silver Spring, Maryland; by his grandchildren, Leah Denman of Bozeman, Montana, Dr. Max Braun (Seabrook Wilson) of Fairfield, Dr. Gerald Braun of Fairfield, Zev Braun of Portland, Oregon, Franklin Gilbert Mendelsohn of Philadelphia, and Nigel Mendelsohn; and by his great grandchild, Henry Thor Johnson. Bob is predeceased by his wife, Nancy, and by a daughter, Laura Grace Braun.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023 at 10 a.m. with visitation starting at 9 a.m. at The Abraham L. Green & Son Funeral Home, 88 Beach Road, Fairfield. Burial will follow at Agudas Achim Cemetery, 250 Reid Street, Fairfield. Family and friends are invited to visit with the family after the service at his house in Fairfield.

For more information, to join a livestream, and to share a condolence message, visit www.greensfuneralhome.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Connecticut Audubon Society, where Birdcraft?s custodian, Frank Novak, let a small boy into his workshop in the early 1940s to show him how to mount birds for the museum?s dioramas. Bob practiced service to his community and he loved nature.

The family wishes to extend their gratitude for years of loving support by Maia Tchipashvili and Tamila Zveriashvili and to the kind and expert nurses from The Geriatric Center and from Jewish Social Services.