Longtime Roslyn resident Jerome Brondfield, 84, died swiftly and unexpectedly in November, 1998. His life was characterized by love of work and a keen sense of community responsibility. His first assignment after graduating from The Ohio State University School of Journalism in 1936 was to cover the Berlin Olympics where he sat in full view of Adolph Hitler.

In addition to radio broadcasting as a sports reporter, Mr. Brondfield worked for the Associated Press until he began to make documentary films for RKO Pathé with whom he remained until they folded in the 1950s. At that point he freelanced, crafting a voluminous amount of short stories during that genre's commercial heyday for such magazines as Colliers, Redbook, McCall's and The Saturday Evening Post. At the same time, he wrote television scripts, both documentary and fictive.

In the early 1960s, Mr. Brondfield was hired as full-time editor of Literary Cavalcade at Scholastic Magazine, where he wrote sports books for teenagers until retirement in 1978. He also taught creative writing in the evening program of Columbia University. Moreover, during the late 1960s and 1970s, he wrote several books, most notably The Big Ten, a history of the conference; Rockne, a biography of Knute Rockne; and Woody Hayes and the 100-Yard War¬a look into the controversial professional life of Coach Hayes, the famed Ohio State football coach and a lifelong friend of Mr. Brondfield. He wrote and published continuously into his elderly years.

In the 1950s in Roslyn¬Mr. Brondfield lived in Strathmore for 48 years¬he was an early president of the local chapter of Little League. He was personally responsible for building the field¬from securing the acreage from Temple Beth Sholom, to seeding the grass, to constructing the fences.

Similarly in 1956, he started Booster Bantam Basketball for sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade boys. He was particularly proud of having been a lifelong Heisman trophy elector. In Silver Spring, MD, where he spent the last three and a half years of his life, Mr. Brondfield was the writer/editor of the popular newsletter, The Villa Voice, an elected member of his condo board of directors and a member of the health committee. He was awarded a plaque acknowledging his community involvement a month before he died. He is survivied by his wife Ruth, his son Eric, his daughter Ellen and grandsons Sam and Max.