Mr. Rod Bramblett

The memorial service for Roderick Jon Bramblett, Jr., of Auburn, Alabama, will be Thursday, May 30, 2019 at 2 p.m. CT at Auburn Arena.  A private burial will follow the service.  The Reverend Dr. George Mathison will officiate the service.  Visitation is from 12 p.m. until the start of the memorial service at 2 p.m. at Auburn Arena.  Rod, who died at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, May 25, 2019, was born Nov. 5, 1965, in Waycross, Georgia.  Rod married his high school sweetheart, Paula East, on Aug. 26, 1986, at Fairfax United Methodist Church in Valley, Alabama.  Rod and Paula were tragically killed in an automobile accident.

Rod graduated from Valley High School in Valley, Alabama in 1984.  He was a 1988 graduate from Auburn University.

Rod broadcasted Auburn University baseball since 1993 and took over as lead announcer for Auburn in 2003, serving as Auburn's voice of football, men's basketball, and baseball.

Bramblett was named National Broadcaster of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2013. He was also a three-time winner of the Alabama Sportscaster of the Year award (2006, 2010, 2013) as presented by the National Sports Media Association.

Bramblett, who was also Auburn Sports Properties' Director of Broadcast Operations, served as the host for Tiger Talk.

Bramblett began his broadcasting career in Lanett, Alabama, working part-time at WZZZ/WCJM radio stations while attending Auburn University. From there, he went on to work in Auburn at WAUD from 1989-91 and then again from 1993-96. It was at that time he did play-by-play for Lee-Scott Academy and Auburn High School athletics.  He continued his career with Auburn Network, Inc., and WANI Radio before taking over the Director of Broadcasting for the radio network.

In 1992, Bramblett's year away from WAUD, he worked in Morristown, Tennessee for two different radio stations where he served as the play-by-play voice of Morristown West High School football.

He is survived by daughter Shelby Grace and son Joshua Baird of Auburn, Alabama,  mother, Vickie Lynn of Valley, Alabama, father Rick Bramblett of Kennesaw, Georgia, brother Brad Lynn of Valley, Alabama, sister Krista Crisp of Atlanta, Georgia, uncle Mike Cates and aunt Lynne Cates of Wilson, North Carolina, and nieces Holly Lynn and Susannah Lynn of LaGrange, Georgia.

Bramblett was preceded in death by his wife Paula East Bramblett, his grandmother Dorothy Cates, grandfather Boyd Cates, and stepfather Preston Lynn.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Cary Woods Elementary After-School Garden Program and the Auburn City Library in memory of Rod and Paula Bramblett.

Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home is directing.

www.jeffcoattrant.com