NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A family friend sheds light on those killed in the Northfield Township home explosion.
The blast on Saturday, Dec. 30, killed four out of six people in the home, including Hope Bragg, her husband Don and their two children Kenneth and Elizabeth.
“They were the kind of family that I feel like most people aspire to be,” family friend Matthew Rooney said. “They were very loving and happy together.”
The Bragg’s youngest son Stephen, 16, survived along with Hope Bragg’s father, Richard Purden, who owns the home.
The Bragg family lives in Arkansas and was visiting Pruden for the holidays.
Rooney said Hope and Don were passionate about archaeology and their eldest son Kenny was following in their footsteps.
“Kenny was finishing up his bachelor’s degree at Michigan Tech,” Rooney said. “He was studying to become an archaeologist.”
Their middle child Elizabeth or ‘Beth’, 19, had just started college as a freshman at the University of Arkansas.
“They were such a great group of people who were so caring and loving and contributed so much to their community,” Rooney said about the Bragg family.
Pruden remained in critical condition as of Tuesday, while Stephen was in stable condition but still reportedly undergoing significant surgeries to address his injuries.
“The school district here said (Stephen) had a broken pelvis and a lacerated liver and that it would take several months for him to recover from that physically,” Rooney said.
Northfield Township has scheduled to host a vigil for the family members killed in the explosion at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6 at Whitmore Lake High School.
Those willing to help the family can donate through GoFundMe pages set up to assist with Richard Pruden’s medical expenses and Stephen Bragg’s recovery.