MEMORIAL NOTICE FOR FLOYD BURTON BRALLIAR
Burt Brallier, 72, died July 20 at his home in Falls Church, Virginia. He was
a gifted writer, talented computer expert and knowledgeable about film, music,
politics and popular culture.
As the son of the Surgeon General of the Air Force, he had an international
upbringing. Born in the Fort Campbell, Kentucky military hospital in 1952, he was
the eldest of three sons of Max and Audrey Bralliar.
He spent three of his elementary school years in England, at the Montpelier
School in Ealing, Middlesex. When the family returned to the Chanute Air Force
base in Rantoul, Illinois, he skipped a grade. Three years later, the family moved to
Laughlin Air Force base in Del Rio, Texas, where he completed junior high.
He was a voracious reader throughout his life. He also developed a
consuming interest in music, learning to play the electric guitar as a teenager.
Swimming became a passion and he competed competitively throughout his junior
and senior high years.
He attended high school in Japan, when his father was stationed at Kadena
Air Force Base on the island of Okinawa.
An exceptional student, Burt was the editor of the TORII, the school
newspaper at Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, which was a Department of
Defense Overseas Dependent School. He also was the winner of a National Merit
scholarship. As his yearbook photo noted, “Top grades, a student leader and a full
load of time consuming extra-curricular activities — TORII Editor, National Honor
Society, TYPHOON) are among Burt Bralliar’s credits.”
The advisor to the student newspaper noted his writing ability and suggested
he study journalism at the University of Missouri. He was accepted and graduated
from its well-known journalism school in 1973.
By that time, his family had left Japan for Minot, North Dakota, and then
moved to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. Burt’s first journalism job
was at the Mobile Press-Register, where he covered a wide variety of stories as a
general assignment reporter. The historic city intrigued Burt, who appreciated the
pull of a great river on its culture. He recalled eating raw oysters from Mason jars
on the riverbank with friends, with a handful of saltines as a chaser.
He left the Press-Register for Atlanta, where he went to work for Peachtree
Software as its director of strategic marketing. He later taught himself to code.
Well after he left the software company, he continued to help family and friends
with computer issues. He gave computer assistance to several small businesses in
the Atlanta area and maintained a roster of clients needing computer help.
He helped found a film club in Atlanta as well as a book club, and had a
loyal circle of friends who participated in both. After-movie dinners at a belovedMexican restaurant included his favored margaritas. During his time in Atlanta, he also taught swimming lessons at an Atlanta swim club. He trained for andcompleted the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.
In 2005, he moved to Arlington, Virginia, where he began working for
Barnes & Noble, specializing in its music and book offerings.
A lifelong animal lover fond of both dogs and cats, Burt took in an aged cat
after her owner died, extending her life for years by his devotion to her care.
In recent years, Burt was enamored with the intellectual rigor, creative ideas
and humor he found in an on-line community, Balloon Juice. He became the site’s
historian, posted comments frequently under the handle “Steeplejack,” and often
shared the wisdom with friends and family of the “valued commentators” he
encountered there. After his death, hundreds of his friends on Balloon Juice posted
messages of sorrow, and included stories of his kindness, expertise and helpfulness.
He chose the name “Steeplejack” because he admired the difficulty of that
profession – workers who scaled steeples to clean and repair them.
He is survived by his mother, Audrey, of Boulder City, Nevada, and brothers
Bob Bralliar, of Henderson, Nevada, and Briggs Bralliar, M.D., of London,
England; a niece, Valentina, and a nephew, Max.