Monday, March 16, 2009

Woodworking tools from deceased engineer and Dallas native bequeathed to W.W. Samuell High School

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Edward Bromberg had a pas­sion for woodworking. The retired engineer and longtime Dallas native spent countless hours in his expansive shop, building intricate furniture, modifying his own tools, and teaching family members the art of his craft. Upon his passing, his family set out to fulfill one of his lifelong wishes: that his tools and equipment would be do­nated to an area school.

“My dad was a very happy person who en­joyed life,” stated his son, John E. Bromberg, a Dallas-area attorney. “His true love was working in his shop. It was always his wish that the equipment would go to someone who could use and benefit from it, and he particularly wanted it to go to a school.”

The building trades class at W.W. Samuell High School, under the direction of instruc­tor Jim Burgoon, offers ninth- through 12th-grade students hands-on learning using a curriculum designed to prepare students for the construction industry.

The equipment at Samuell was beginning to show its age, but thanks to the generosity of Edward Bromberg’s family, Samuell’s fa­cilities received an upgrade of approximately $15,000 in equipment. Bromberg’s dona­tion included saws, drills, clamps, compres­sors, cupboards, tables, and expensive drill bits. Always the engineer, he had personally modified most, if not all, of the equipment by adding handcrafted safety fea­tures and easier accessibility. The Bromberg family donation turned Samuell’s building trades class into a one-of-a-kind shop.

“I compare it as going from a Yugo to a Mercedes,” said Clyde Pikes, community liaison at Samuell High School. “We’ve moved into the current century in terms of equipment. A lot of the equipment we had previous­ly was not up to date. The donat­ed equipment moves us forward in what we’re able to do in the building trades classroom.”

This past November, the Bromberg family had the oppor­tunity to visit Samuell and wit­ness the equipment in use. Of special note was the hand-carved sign “Gwop’s Shop” (“Gwop” is a nickname given to Brom­berg by one of his grandchildren) that had at one point hung in front of Mr. Bromberg’s shop door and that now is displayed promi­nently in the center of the building trades classroom at Samuell High School.

“I got to meet [the Brombergs] one-on-one and it gave me a great deal of pleasure to tell them exactly what this donation meant,” said Burgoon. “I saw a few tears in their eyes as they realized that the legacy of their father and grandfather continues at Samuell every day through the students’ use of the equipment.”

Source: DISD

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• Dallas ISD > Dallas ISD High Schools > Samuell

Comments

alexander troup Verified

THAT IS A GOOD THING, AND A GOOD STORY..A/T..

7 months, 4 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )