This image from video shows the remains of a house scattered after an explosion in Northfield Township, Mich., on Saturday Dec. 30, 2023. Several were killed and injured. (WXYZ via AP)
HOUGHTON — A Michigan Technological University student was one of four family members, including two Tech alumni, killed in a home explosion last week in Washtenaw County. Metal Grating For Walkways
Tech senior Kenny Bragg, his sister Elizabeth Bragg, and his parents Don and Hope Bragg were killed Saturday in the explosion at the home near Whitmore Lake. They were visiting Hope’s father, Richard Pruden, who was injured in the explosion along with their third child, Stephen Bragg.
Pruden was listed as being in critical condition Tuesday, while bragg was stable.
In a release Tuesday, the Northfield Township Police Department said the explosion was believed to have been caused by an unknown fuel-air mixture. The incident is still being investigated, but police do not suspect foul play.
GoFundMe pages are up for the medical treatments of both survivors: Stephen Bragg’s at gofund.me/d32eff21, and Pruden’s at gofund.me/a66542b0.
The Tunican Chapter of the Arkansas Archeological Society members Hope Bragg and her son, Kenny Bragg, also a senior at Michigan Technological University majoring in anthropology/industrial archaeology, use a mesh screen to separate soil from artifacts. on 5/18/2023 at the Hollywood Plantation near Winchester, Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
Kenny, 22, was a senior at Michigan Tech majoring in anthropology. He was also a member of the Huskies Pep Band.
Both of Kenny’s parents graduated from Tech.
Don, 53, received a bachelor’s degree in 1992 and a graduate degree in 1995, both in forestry, according to a Tech alumni newsletter. Hope, 51, graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in forestry, according to her LinkedIn page.
In a statement, Dean of Students Kellie Raffaelli said her office had been in touch with pep band leadership to help them through their grief and honoring Kenny. They are planning a candlelight vigil for 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Husky Statue on campus.
Students who need support can also reach out to the Center for Student Mental Health and Well-being, Raffaelli said.
Kenny Bragg and his father, Don Bragg, president of the Tunican Chapter, work together excavating a unit.n 5/18/2023 at the Hollywood Plantation near Winchester, Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)on 5/18/2023 at the Hollywood Plantation near Winchester, Arkansas. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)
Tech associate professor Timothy Scarlett first met Kenny when he took Scarlett’s industrial archaeology class during the pandemic. He remembered Kenny as being excited to follow in his father’s footsteps and becoming an archaeologist working in his home state of Arkansas.
“He really loved the Arkansas Archaeology Survey, doing fieldwork in and with community organizations, exploring past human activities and the environments they managed,” Scarlett said. “His enthusiasm was tangible. He knew he would spend his whole life learning, and he was excited to start.”
Kenny had planned to study archaeology and had applied to a couple of graduate programs, Scarlett said. He was hoping to attend Michigan Tech’s.
Kenny had been scheduled to give a presentation on salt at an upcoming Society of Historical Archaeology meeting, Scarlett said.
He had been working on his senior thesis paper about a salt-making site used by historic salt miners and the ancient Caddo, a Native American confederation of the Southern woodlands. The paper was a collaboration with Carl Drexler of the Arkansas Archaeology Survey.
Photo provided by Arkansas Archaeological Survey Kenny Bragg and his parents Don and Hope Bragg screen for artifacts at a sharecropper house site in Drew County, Arkansas in May 2022. The three of them, along with Kenny’s sister, Elizabeth, were killed in a home explosion in Washtenaw County Saturday. Kenny Bragg was an anthropology senior at Michigan Technological University, from which his parents also graduated.
“Not many undergraduate students volunteer to help professionals write up reports of several years of fieldwork and research,” Scarlett said. “Kenny had his ups-and-downs, like any student, but was really excited to become a professional. He couldn’t wait to start the work. I am deeply saddened that I won’t be able to help him achieve his dreams.”
Scarlett asked people to think of the Bragg family. He also advised them to test the batteries on their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, have their chimneys swept, and to check their basements and gas lines.
Don worked as a project leader for the U.S. Forest Service at the Southern Research Station in Monticello, Arkansas. Hope was an instructor with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, where she taught STEM projects for area youth.
They were also active with the Arkansas Archeological Society, where they took part in numerous projects and served in leadership at the state and local level.
“They were the kind of folks who would step up and take leadership roles and do things when other people wouldn’t do them,” said Matthew Rooney, an assistant professor and station archeologist at the University of Arkansas Monticello research station. He had known the family since coming to Arkansas three years ago.
The Braggs were incredibly welcoming, he said, hosting dinner parties for staff and even putting up new hires at their house until they got settled.
Don and Kenny would both participate in digs with the archaeological survey. Hope would promote the events, and help bring local youth to them.
“Their family was what others would aspire to be,” Rooney said. “They were loving and caring towards each other, and very bright, intelligent people. It’s very tragic and devastating to think about their last moments.”
Don had a reputation as “very precise and intelligent,” Rooney said. As a member of the editorial board for Arkansas Historical Association, he was renowned as a “meticulous reviewer” who would catch things that had eluded even the lead editor, Rooney said.
Kenny had helped with Rooney’s digs, and also done lab work, he said. Kenny and Don also participated in the statewide archaeological society’s two-week training program. In the most recent one, Kenny had even served as a lab instructor.
“He was gaining a lot of experience to be able to share it with newcomers to the field,” Rooney said.
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