Brayton Douglas "Bronc" Branic, passed away on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the age of 22.

Brayton Douglas was born January 24, 2003, in Broken Bow, Nebraska to Lonzo E. Branic and Brenda D. Bowers. Brayton grew up in Burwell until kindergarten when he moved to Taylor and attended school there through the third grade. He spent the remainder of his school years in Dunning and graduated from Sandhills Public School in 2021.

While in high school Brayton excelled in football, wrestling and track. He was the recipient of numerous football honors and was a state champion wrestler in 2021.

Brayton continued his education at Chadron State College. He played D-line and O-line for the Chadron State Eagles Football for four years. Brayton was a senior in college at the time of his passing. Since he was a kid, his life goal was to join the United States Marines to achieve the honor to serve as a Marine Officer. He had been preparing himself for this opportunity through his leadership and mentoring skills that he continued to work on throughout his life in sports, school, church and being the best friend he could be.

July 16, 2023, was a proud day for Brayton when he professed his faith and was baptized at the Christian Church in Chadron. This was a testament to the man that he was, a kind caring man with a huge heart.

In his younger years, Brayton was busy exploring the wilderness, playing with any type of equipment, making forts, wood knives and chasing his litter sister around. Brayton and his friend, Trae, spent time exploring together, playing sports and finding anything to entertain themselves. He had a love for sports cars and understood the parts and everything under the hood. His aspiration was to own a collectable car business.

Loving the outdoors, Brayton also enjoyed hunting, fishing, golfing, going to the river and playing video games. Traveling to Costa Rica was among one of his best memories.

Survivors include his mother, Brenda Bowers of Taylor, his father, Lonzo Branic of Kearney; brother and sister-in-law, Justin and Rachel Dearmont and their children, Paisley, Hadley, Bailey and Matthew all of Rose; four sisters, Brea Branic of Brewster, Jennifer Branic (Kyle Blacker), Stephanie Branic (Luis Marin) and Sammie Branic (Bryce Austin) all of Clovis, California; grandparents, Jon and Maxine Peters of Brewster; and a special cousin, Quincy.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Sterling Bowers and grandmother, Carol Brown.

A Celebration of the Life Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at the Baptist Church in Burwell, Nebraska. Pastors Ben Burris and Scott Harvey will officiate.

Memorials are suggested to The Family.

The memorial service will be livestreaming at:

https://www.facebook.com/burwellbaptist/ or

https://www.youtube.com/@burwellbaptistchurch9536