James Berry Bragaw, 93, a retired automobile industry sales executive, died Wednesday, June 11, 2008, at his Harbor Springs home. Mr. Bragaw moved from Birmingham to Harbor Springs in 1981 when he retired after a career of more than 40 years with the Borg-Warner Corporation. He was an active member of Kiwanis, the Birchwood Country Club, where he played tennis for many years, and the First Presbyterian Church. He retired to Harbor Springs after his wife, Sylvia Callendar Bragaw , died in 1980. His second wife, Sally Case Bragaw, whom he married in 1982, predeceased him on March 20, 2008. Mr. Bragaw is survived by his three children, Richard S. (Lenore), of Arlington Heights, Illinois, James B. Jr. (Darla) of Haleiwa, Hawaii, and Lois B. (Penny) Macpherson- McCready (Jim), of Harbor Springs; five grandchildren, Jeanne Joy (Greg) Benjamin of Harbor Springs, James B. II (Jennifer) of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Richard E. of Chicago, Kevin P. (Marina) of Arlington Heights, and Daniel B. of Chicago; and two greatgrandchildren, Joshua James Bragaw of California, and Carter Callender Benjamin of Harbor Springs. He is also survived by Sally Bragaw's three children, Larry (Shannon) Cummings of Harbor Springs, Louise McDermott of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Harriet Graves of Petoskey. His sister, Janet Bragaw Kern of Bloomfield Hills, also predeceased him. Mr. Bragaw was born April 1, 1915, in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father, Richard Bragaw, was an engineering executive with the Otis Elevator Company. His mother, Alice Berry Bragaw, had come from Milton Mills, New Hampshire. His father was transferred to Detroit, and Mr. Bragaw later became one of the first students at Cranbrook School, Bloomfield Hills, enrolling in 1927. He boarded there until the family moved from Detroit to Birmingham, so he could live at home while finishing his last year at Cranbrook. After graduating from Cranbrook in 1932, he enrolled at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and, transferring during the Depression years, he received his B.A. degree from the University of Michigan. He studied at the Detroit College of Law before beginning his career at the Jenkins Valve Company in Detroit. In 1939, he married Sylvia Elizabeth Callender, daughter of a Detroit Circuit Court Judge, and the young couple lived briefly in Evanston, Illinois, before returning to the Detroit area, where he began his career with Borg-Warner. The family lived in Royal Oak before moving to Birmingham in 1948. Mr. Bragaw maintained membership in Christ Church Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, until his death. He became General Sales Manager of Borg-Warner's Beck Division before retiring in 1981. Services were held June 16, at the First Presbyterian Church in Harbor Springs. Donations are suggested to the Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, Little Traverse Conservancy, or the First Presbyterian Church.

October 16, 2008
An interment service for Sally Case Bragaw and James Berry Bragaw, of Harbor Springs, will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, at Lakeview Cemetery in Harbor Springs. The Rev. Toby Jones of the First Presbyterian Church in Harbor Springs will officiate. A gathering will take place at Birchwood Farms Golf and Country Club immediately following the service. Mrs. Bragaw passed away on March 20, 2008, at the age of 90 Mr. Bragaw passed away on June 11, 2008, at the age of 93.