Michael D. Bramham, 38 of St Helena

[Stan]

A memorial service for Michael D. Bramham will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at the St. Helena Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1777 Main St.

Bramham, 38, the owner of M.D. Handyman Services of Angwin, died Friday night following a single-vehicle crash on Silverado Trail north of the Yountville Cross Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

He was a passenger in a 2005 Honda Pilot that was driven by his wife, Sharee. Their two sons, Coby, 3, and 1-year-old Keaton, were in car seats in the rear of the SUV.

According to the CHP, the SUV was northbound on Silverado Trail at around 10 p.m. when it drifted off the left shoulder, sideswiped a pole, hit a guardrail and overturned, landing on its roof in Rector Creek. It appears the driver may have fallen asleep, CHP Sgt. Gilberto Jose said.

Sharee Bramham was able to pull her two sons and her husband from the vehicle, which was partially submerged, Jose said. She performed CPR on her husband, according to the CHP, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Jose said.

Bramham, 33, and her two boys were taken by Piner Ambulance to Queen of the Valley Medical Center.

Jenny Oliver, a volunteer at the St. Helena Seventh-day Adventist Church, is a good friend of the Bramhams. She called the accident “a terrible tragedy that struck our church and our community.”

The Bramhams have been members of the church for the past six years and have been married for the past 8 1/2 years. Both Michael and Sharee are “hard, hard workers,” Oliver said.

A memorial fund has been set up for Sharee, her two boys and the Bramham’s third child, which is due in April. Donations may be sent to the St. Helena SDA Church, 1777 Main St., St. Helena, CA 94574 with the word “Memorial” in the memo line, a donation may be made via PayPal on the church’s website, www.shsda.org or a donation may be dropped off at St. Helena’s Wells Fargo Bank branch, 1107 Main St. for direct deposit into the Bramham Family Trust Fund. The account is 3624131052.

The two met 14 years ago, Bramham said, while she was a student at Pacific Union College and he was on the PUC gymnastics team. They were introduced by their mutual friend, Heather Bethke. After dating for five years, they were married.

Michael was born in Santa Rosa and raised in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. He attended Redwood Christian Academy and graduated from Healdsburg’s Rio Lindo Adventist Academy in 1991. For a time he attended Santa Rosa Junior College and Pacific Union College. He has three half brothers, a half sister and a sister, Bramham said.

Sharee Bramham was born and raised in Angwin, the youngest of five children and the only daughter. She earned her undergraduate and master’s degree from Pacific Union College and taught at Foothills Elementary School from 2000 to 2007, until their first child, Coby, was born. She has served on the Howell Mountain School Board for the past two years and currently serves as the board clerk.

Her father, Henry Herman, is a contractor and Michael worked with him for a few years before starting his own business in 2007.

Bramham said there were many “super great people” who helped her husband get started in business, helping him with electrical and plumbing skills, for example. He had more than 100 clients and many local businesses called him every time they needed something, Bramham said.

“He was a walking advertisement, putting fliers in every hardware store, at the preschools and on car windshields,” Bramham said.

M.D. Handyman Services offered renovation, repair and maintenance of residential and commercial properties in communities throughout the Napa Valley and in Sonoma County, according to its website.

Oliver said the two “had a strong marriage and a budding family and have been great contributors to the community in many ways. Michael will be sorely missed by all, but especially by his little boys and loving wife.”

She told a story of how caring Michael was. On Christmas Eve, St. Helena SDA church members went caroling throughout St. Helena and Mike and Sharee helped arrange it. They went caroling with their 1- and 3-year-old boys and an elderly man was a part of the group. He was having difficulty walking and keeping up, Oliver said, and Michael lingered behind, to make sure he wasn’t left behind. Finally, Michael got a wheelchair and made sure the group stayed together.

“That’s the kind of person he was,” Oliver said.

“People loved them because they love people,” Oliver said.

[phkrause]

How sad, the family will need our prays.

[Kevin H]

How sad, my prayers are with this young family at their loss