John Alan Broadbooks, 86, of Springfield, died Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, at Regency Care in Springfield following a long illness.

Born Sept. 27, 1936, in Rochester, N.Y., Broadbooks was the son of the late Kenneth Broadbooks and Avis McGuire. He grew up in Kingsport, Tenn., before moving to Warsaw, N.Y., where he graduated from Warsaw Central School. He received a bachelor's degree in architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., in 1959, where he was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity. He later earned a master's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., in 1968.

Broadbooks worked in Albany, N.Y., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Clemson and Hilton Head Island, S.C., and Asheville, N.C., where he later opened his own firm. He played a leading landscape design role for projects including the North Carolina Arboretum and Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., and South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C.

Broadbooks was a charter member and president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and was president of the North Carolina chapter of the organization, where he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He served as chair of the Asheville Civic Center Commission.

A longtime advocate for public spaces, Broadbooks served as president of The Botanical Gardens at Asheville, where he was part of a successful effort to build a visitor's center. He was a past member of the Men's Garden Club in Asheville and was a former member of the Clemson, S.C., Lions Club. He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Springfield.

Broadbooks had a lifelong love of going to antique stores. His collection of stereoview cards collected over three decades was extensive and was donated to the Pickler Memorial Library at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo. He also had passion for the outdoors, where weekend day hikes in the Appalachian Mountains were frequent while living in Asheville.

Survivors include, his wife, Jane Tucker Broadbooks, of Springfield; step-brother, William R. McGuire (Wife, Terry) of Batavia, N.Y.; a son, Jon K. Broadbooks (wife, Catherine) of Springfield; three grandchildren, Tucker Broadbooks of Washington, D.C., and Anna Grace and Virginia Broadbooks of Springfield.

Visitation will be 10-11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, with services following at Vancil-Murphy Funeral Home in Springfield.

Memorials may be made to The Botanical Gardens at Asheville. https://ashevillebotanicalgardens.org/