Braun, Richard P. former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation and a founder of the Center for Transportation Studies at the University of Minnesota, died peacefully on April 11 at the age of ninety one. A native of St. Cloud, he began rising through what was then the Highway Department after serving in the Navy. (He was stationed in North Dakota during World War II and would later recall with mock pride that no Japanese submarines ever made it up the Mouse River.) Making a decision that he was more likely to become commissioner if he came from the outside, he led a Minnesota branch of Barton-Aschman Associates from 1970 to 1976, then returned to MnDOT as Deputy Commissioner and as Commissioner under both GOP and DFL governors. He also served as president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and chair of the Metropolitan Airports Commission. Dick Braun happily enjoyed the best parts of life: naps, root beer floats, the dashing products of Mercury's Cougar division, spumoni from Totino's and mini-donuts at the State Fair. He was especially content when listening to Dixieland music played by Doc Evans, the Mouldy Figs and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (whose home base in New Orleans he visited several dozen times). He was always ready to go to a Broadway musical, which he called a "play," or a movie, which he called a "show." An incorrigible prankster, he could sustain a practical joke for years. One of these involved a cellophane-wrapped airline brownie and another involved a mealtime blessing sung to the tune of "Edelweiss." From the 1950's to the end of his life he was unwavering in his devotion to the four children he had with his late wife Ellen Keefe: Barbara, William, Jane and Catherine. He would show up directly from work, in a business suit, at softball games and tennis matches, and he would start throwing fly balls without even removing his tie when he arrived home in the evenings. He would travel to Connecticut to hear a piano recital, and he served on the District 13 School board in Columbia Heights. He was also devoted to the friends of his children and to Catherine's partner Guy Tunnicliffe. An optimistic and positive man, he continued doing the things that mattered to him until the last possible moment. These included working out with his trainer Matt Demma, ballroom dancing, and travel with his companion Phyllis Johnson. For years he kept a wall map of the world with pins stuck in all the cities he had visited in two dozen countries. He took a cruise as late as 2015. He never lost the sense of humor that he passed on to his children. On his last visit to the Minnesota Zoo, he sat for a time in front of the wild boars. When it seemed that it might be time to move on, he was asked "Well, are you 'boared' yet?" With his usual twinkle in his eye he one-upped the joke. "You should have said are you 'WILDLY boared' yet." A celebration of life will take place June 18th at McNamara Alumni Center. Memorial donations to U of MN Foundation; Braun CTS Scholarship; P.O. Box 860266; Minneapolis, MN 55486-0266.