Sunshine Coast Daily ex-staff member Bruce Broadfoot remembered by friends after passing

An ex-Sunshine Coast Daily staff member who helped ensure the newspaper landed on the community’s doorstep each day is being remembered as a “genuine” friend.

Those closest to Bruce Broadfoot will tell you that once you became a friend of his, you were in it for life.

Decades-long mates are remembering the Sunshine Coast man for being a genuine companion after he sadly died in a Brisbane hospital in August.

As the Daily celebrates the launch of its new weekly print edition, the words written on this page wouldn’t be possible without the work of Mr Broadfoot during the paper’s inception.

The ex-advertising rep began his career in newspapers with the Sunshine Coast Weekly and then began selling for the Daily when it was created in 1980.

Bruce Broadfoot’s farewell from the Daily in 2002.

Colleague Murray Jones worked closely with Mr Broadfoot and said the pair had a special bond after a friendship spanning more than 40 years.

“Bruce and I were the first to actually work for the Daily as advertising reps and worked for quite a few years,” he said.

“We so enjoyed each other’s company and the challenges of the job.”

Mr Jones said the start of the Daily came as a shock to the pair but it didn’t take them long to hit the ground running.

“We went ahead and got our act together and got some major advertisers on the Coast for the first issue to be well and truly read, and of course it was,” he said.

“Everyone was out on the streets selling the Daily and had a good product to sell.

“Working for the Daily was something special.”

Present from left to right: Chris Lancaster, Don Hunt, Bruce Broadfoot, John Devers, Ken Hills, Murray Jones, Neil Burke, Kerry Evans, Mike Garry, Jenny Penfold, Michael Kramer, Lindsay Earle, Anar Higgins, Bob Collins and Kerry Irvine.

Mr Jones said spending time with Mr Broadfoot always resulted in a few good laughs shared.

“It was always a fun time with Bruce, he liked to joke,” he said.

“He was just a really genuine friend.”

Ex-Daily staff member Joy Prowd also began working with Mr Broadfoot in 1980 and said he and Mr Jones were two of the best sales reps you could find in the region.

“He was just a good friend to everybody, not just one or two people,” she said.

“He got on well with everybody.”

Ms Prowd said he was always up for a drink at the back of the Daily’s office after a hard week’s work and they often played golf together on the weekends.

“We had lots of fun on the golf course,” she said. “We swore a lot.

“He loved his family, his wife and two sons will miss him a lot I’m sure.

“He was really one of the good guys.”