The funeral services for California Highway Patrol Officer James Branik, who died in an early-morning accident in San Martin Sept. 19, will take place Sept. 29 in Morgan Hill.
Services are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road. The public is invited.
Branik, 44, of Morgan Hill, died after a traffic accident on Monterey Road just south of Chester Avenue just before 6 a.m. Sept. 19. He was driving south on his Suzuki motorcycle when a Chevrolet pickup—travelling north on Monterey Road in the left-turn lane—turned into him, according to authorities.
Branik, who was off duty at the time of the accident, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which is under investigation, according to police. Alcohol or drugs are not suspected to be a factor in the collision.
Branik worked for the CHP since 2005. Since 2010, he was assigned to the Gilroy Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Facility, which is located on U.S. 101 in San Martin. His role was as a mobile road enforcement officer, tasked with patrolling county roads and freeways in the area of the weigh station for vehicle safety violations, making traffic stops and issuing citations, according to CHP Lt. Robb Kaczor, who was Branik’s commanding officer at the San Martin facility.
Branik was recognized by his commander and his peers as a “leader” in commercial vehicle safety knowledge and enforcement, Kaczor said.
His obituary, printed in the Morgan Hill Times and other South County media, says Branik was “a man of integrity and quiet conviction.”
He graduated from Leigh High School in San Jose in 1991. Before becoming a CHP officer, Branik worked for the U.S. Post Office in Campbell and Los Gatos from 1993 to 2005. He enjoyed basketball, G.I. Joe, Marvel and DC comics and animals, according to the obituary notice.
In lieu of flowers, Branik’s family has requested donations be made to the CHP 11-99 Foundation in his name.
