William Brodsky

William Brodsky died peacefully on September 30, 2025, in Great Falls, Virginia. He was 99 years old.

Bill Brodsky was the quintessential school principal and renowned for his commitment to education as he devotedly trained aspiring Philadelphia Public Schools principals throughout his career. An administrator and central office leader, he supported the seventh largest school system in the United States and served as director of numerous organizations, most notably, the Pew Foundation.

He was especially known for transforming many of Philadelphia’s lowest performing schools into exemplary models of education. More than any of these significant professional accomplishments, Brodsky treasured his role as sponsor and mentor to generations of educators in the Philadelphia school system, his loving family, and his lifelong friends.

To know Bill Brodsky was to know his immense passion for education, his deep love of Judaism, and his joie de vivre fueled by sincere and abiding relationships. Always with a twinkle in his eye, Brodsky was a pure force of nature with an incredible work ethic. He was the son of Ukrainian immigrants, Irving Brodsky, and his wife, Sarah Nydick Brodsky.

Brodsky was born August 23,1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and personified the “Greatest Generation.” After graduating from Bartram High School in 1944, “Skinny Billy from South Philly” enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served with distinction, earning both silver and bronze stars at the age of 19, among other meritorious honors, for his courage in combat. While enlisted, Brodsky took it upon himself to teach illiterate soldiers how to read and write. After hearing about this, General George Patton transferred Brodsky to an office where he served as one of Patton’s organizational attachés. Brodsky greatly admired Patton, recalling a time when the general insisted Brodsky leave his duties to observe Yom Kippur. From Brodsky’s involvement in the liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp to his role in helping to hide the Lipizzaner Stallions from Hitler, service during WWII shaped the trajectory of Bill Brodsky’s life.

Attending Pennsylvania State University on the GI bill, Brodsky then earned a master’s degree in education and completed all but his doctoral dissertation at Temple University.

During his remarkable 50-year career in the Philadelphia school system, Brodsky spent summers serving as Director of Camp Kweebec and later, Camp Seneca Lake. Under his exceptional leadership, skillful organization and unbridled enthusiasm, Brodsky’s overnight camps were host to joyous annual reunions with the children of extended family and dearest friends. For 20 years, he invested in the camp community – “adopting” campers as “his kids” and embracing their families. The ultimate “people person,” Bill Brodsky never met a stranger.

Brodsky’s Jewish heritage and faith were central to his life. Wherever he traveled, he inevitably explored synagogues and museums that captured Judaism’s rich cultural history. He believed that synagogue was home – where one could always find one’s “Lantzmen,” or tribe. His deep faith reflected basic Jewish tenets – to be truthful, never gossip, keep confidences and be true to your word. “God gave you a Shem Tov,” he would say, “and it is your job to uphold that good name every day.”

Married for 52 years to the love of his life, Audrey Lesse Brodsky, Brodsky found himself widowed at age 76. Though Audrey predicted that he would need to remarry, Brodsky instead acquired domestic skills, developed new friendships and lived on his own until his death on September 30, 2025. He left his beloved Philadelphia to live nearby family in an assisted living center in Northern Virginia, where he was affectionately dubbed “The Boss” – though his grandchildren still called him “Poppy.”

Bill Brodsky will be deeply missed by his children, Lloyd (Jennifer Berg) of Hoschton, Georgia, and Fran Prolman (Steven Polakoff) of Mclean, Virginia; two grandchildren, Samantha (Jack) Hunt of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Gabriel Zimmerman of New York, New York. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Audrey Lesse Brodsky. Graveside services will be held on Sunday, October 5, 2025, at precisely 11am: Shalom Memorial Park, 25 Byberry Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA. 19006. 

In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Senior Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, Temple Rodef Shalom, 2100 Westmoreland St., Falls Church, VA 22043.