A Good Life Memorialized -
Sculpture dedicated in Brackelsburg's memory
Brighton Standard Blade
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Author: Christine Hollister
BRIGHTON Family members of the late Cody Brackelsberg gathered Saturday morning to dedicate a sculpture in honor of their late son, brother and uncle.
Brackelsberg, 25, died in September 2009 of pneumonia related to the H1N1 flu. Family and friends stepped up to raise the needed money for the commissioned sculpture, named ‘Cody, The Good Life.’
It depicts Cody, a standout Brighton High School baseball player, in his favorite position, first base. The sculpture was completed by local artist Ernie Diaz and unveiled before nearly 100 family members, friends and former coaches and teammates.
“Soon after Cody passed away. I knew I wanted to do something to represent Cody’s life and be a tribute to the wonderful person he was,” Pam Brackelsberg told the Brighton Blade last year. “I wanted something where his family and friends could go to remember the great times they shared with Cody.”
“I believe the baseball memorial was mostly Pam’s idea,” said Cody's father Harry Brackelsberg. “Our lives seemed to revolve around soft-and hardball here in the Brighton area for nearly 30 years. Cody was playing on a team with his buddies when he passed away. It just seemed a logical thing to do.” Pam said she wanted a memorial that could represent her son and all of the young people in the Brighton community … and also something that meant a lot to the Brackelsberg family.
“I think its important for kids and their families to have something in their life to share and enjoy together,” she said.
“From my point of view, the statue is more about the good that comes from ball, the bonding of strangers into a team and them into friends for life,” Harry said. “A large number of Pam’s and my friends are people that we played ball with for better than 15 to 18 years in Brighton. We now get together to watch each other’s children play ball. We even vacation together.”
The sculpture is modeled after a photo of Cody playing high school baseball. Shortly after Cody’s funeral, Pam mentioned the idea of a memorial to a few of his friends, including Casey Diaz, a friend of Cody’s since he was young. Casey, in turn, mentioned the idea to his dad, Ernie, an accomplished artist in bronze scupulpturing. Cody spent a lot of time at the Diaz household growing up and was very fond of the family, Pam said.
“We contacted Ernie to see if he would be interested in doing the sculpture,” Pam said. “Ernie graciously accepted and said he would be honored to do it.”
