The Ongoing Living Inspiration Called Doug Bronson

CFP’s Chairman of the Board

The obit, informing one and all that Troy "Doug" Bronson left us too soon on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at the age of 67, got that right.

“He was a resident of Haines City, Fl but spent the majority of his time with his wife, Kathrine, at The Ranch he loved which is in Osceola County, FL as well as his home on Little Gasparilla Island located in Charlotte County, FL.”

To CFP, Doug Bronson, who spent long days out in Florida sunshine and throughout flooding rains looking after his beloved cattle herd, is in memory, still doing the same thing.

Doug and his late wife, Debbie are former CFP columnists going back to Jan. 17, 2011 with some 400 columns called ‘Ridin' Out The Recession With Dub and Deb in Miz Judi’s Kitchen', still viewable on CFP archives'.

It was his countless telephone calls, through thick and thin, that often kept CFP’s morale riding high.

In each and every one of those phone calls, he was there to remind us that “no matter how bad things get, God is in our lives”.

It was Kathrine who pulled Doug out of despondency after Debbie’s death

Doug, who believed in Readers Digest advice that “Laughter is the Best Medicine”, spiked all of his messages with the kind of humor that would leave even the gloomiest among us, with much-needed smiles and laughter. Remarried to spunky wife Kathrine, Doug held steadfast to the motto his late wife Debbie taught him: “Always keep a smile on your face and one in your heart”.

During the Covid-19 shutdown, Doug reminded all those longing to get back into their churches: “You may not be able to get to church—but you can still get to God Almighty through prayer.”

And praying to the Almighty through all of life’s sorrows, is what matters most. Find ways to make laughter replace worries, because as Doug reminded us: “Stress really kills!”

Debbie’s passing struck home when Doug wrote in his last column: “Life with Deb was so much fun! We literally thought…it would never end! Yet…it did.”

Doug’s was the kind of inspiration that can only come from a country-raised boy, a natural born farmer and rancher.

It was Kathrine who pulled Doug out of despondency after Debbie’s death when we were all so worried about him. Debbie, Doug, Kathrine, who had lost her husband Ronnie five years before, were all close friends at the time when Debbie fell ill.

It was Kathrine who pulled me out of my grief after hearing about the sad passing of Doug

As things turned out, Kathrine and Doug were friends who left Lonely Ville by tying the knot. Says Doug about their marriage: “It wasn’t something that either of us were lookin' for, another spouse or partner, her especially, shoot, Kathrine had never even dated anyone else after losin' Ronnie, but something that actually we both feel very strongly about now, that was God had given to us, an opportunity for both of us to be happy again with someone in our lives, while still in… “the world.”

No one, other than Kathrine could have taken Doug out of his heartbreaking grief over the death of Debbie.

And that’s what Doug’s lovable Kathrine actually did.

It was Kathrine who pulled me out of my grief after hearing about the sad passing of Doug.

Speaking of the shock of finding her husband dead from what a later autopsy defined as a coronary, it eased the pain when Kathrine told me, “Judi, he was so happy here!”, which was telling me something for which I will always be grateful.

Ridin' Out The Recession 

In these last two weeks, Brian, Doug-nicknamed in what Doug thought to be French-sounding ‘Bree-on’ “because he was born in France, doncha y’all know” was working with Doug on resurrecting ‘Ridin' Out The Recession With Dub and Deb in “Miz Judi’s Kitchen’!”, which is now underway.

Doug teased Brian who had told him he was born in France, that he too was born in France by greeting him with the words: “Bonjour y’all!”

To ‘Bree-on’ and myself, Doug will live on in memories that come with the feel of the kind of refreshing breezes that sometimes follow Florida rainstorms.

We will remember Doug every time we see cows in pastures as we drive along country roads.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, March 20, 2024, from 10:30 am until the funeral at 11:00 am, all at Oak Ridge Funeral Care, Haines City. The internment will immediately follow at Forest Hill Cemetery in Haines City.

Meanwhile, we cannot help but wish that everyone had a living inspiration like Doug and Kathrine Bronson in their lives.