Fall From Roof Kills Ex-Pioneer Press Reporter In Forest Lake

FOREST LAKE, MN — A man who worked as a reporter for 29 years for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press has died after falling from his roof. James Broede, 83, was clearing snow on his Forest Lake home when the incident occurred.

"I’ve been telling him for the last five years to stay off the damn roof," Richard Leepart, Broede's neighbor and friend, told the Pioneer Press.

"He just wouldn’t do it."

Broede reported on towns in Washington County from 1969 to 1998 for the Pioneer Press.

In the final entry of his blog, Broede wrote March 5 about being brave and taking chances in life:

I wonder. If we all have to be protected from ourselves. So that we don’t go off the deep ends. Or far, far beyond the horizons. Better to play it safe. Or so I’m advised by some dear friends. Personally, I’d rather take chances. High risks. Unafraid to make mistakes along the way. After all, life was meant to be an adventure. Into the unknown. That’s reason to push my imagination into the realms of the almost unimaginable. To the very brink. I’m accused of thinking too much. Told that I’d be better off. By resting my mind. And learning to obey the prescribed rules. To fit in. Like a good boy. But it occurred to me. At an early age. To be a rebel.

A memorial service for Broede will be held at 10 a.m. on March 15 at Mattson Funeral Home (343 North Shore Drive, Forest Lake).

Read Broede's obituary here.