Milford Franklin Brunk, 90, of Bluffton, Ohio, died Dec. 5, 2012. He was born June 9, 1922, to Christian and Jeannette Leakey Brunk in Biglerville, Pa., the oldest of six siblings.
He married Beatrice Hartman on June 19, 1948, in Wissemborg, France, during a two-year term with Mennonite Central Committee, where he was part of a postwar reconstruction unit.
His love for nature and its beauty were reflected in his choices of work and recreation. He was a member of the Audubon Society in Phoenix, Ariz. He organized and led camping trips to Mexico and Northern Arizona and hikes down Havasu Canyon for the youth and young adults at Sunnyslope Mennonite Church. He and Bea moved their family to Colorado in the early 1960s when he became director of Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. During those 20 years, he designed and built buildings in the Swiss Chalet architectural style. He took classes in rock climbing and taught many campers how to repel off the face of Monkey Rock. His love of hiking resulted in his climbing 43 "14ers," as the 14,000- foot mountains of Colorado are referred to. He was an expert at identifying wildflowers.
After retirement from RMMC, he became an amateur naturalist and docent at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs. He was a member of the AdAmAn Society, a group of professional men who hiked Pikes Peak every New Year's Eve to give Colorado Springs a midnight fireworks show. In his last months of life, as he was mostly confined to lying in bed, he would often say, "Like the Navajos, I see beauty in everything."
Survivors include his wife, Beatrice Brunk, of Bluffton; a daughter, Susie Swartley and her husband, Bill, of Bluffton; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Rene' Brunk; and a daughter, Jeannette Gingerich.
A family celebration of his life will take place at a later time.
Mennonite World Review, January 7, 2013, page 16
He married Beatrice Hartman on June 19, 1948, in Wissemborg, France, during a two-year term with Mennonite Central Committee, where he was part of a postwar reconstruction unit.
His love for nature and its beauty were reflected in his choices of work and recreation. He was a member of the Audubon Society in Phoenix, Ariz. He organized and led camping trips to Mexico and Northern Arizona and hikes down Havasu Canyon for the youth and young adults at Sunnyslope Mennonite Church. He and Bea moved their family to Colorado in the early 1960s when he became director of Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. During those 20 years, he designed and built buildings in the Swiss Chalet architectural style. He took classes in rock climbing and taught many campers how to repel off the face of Monkey Rock. His love of hiking resulted in his climbing 43 "14ers," as the 14,000- foot mountains of Colorado are referred to. He was an expert at identifying wildflowers.
After retirement from RMMC, he became an amateur naturalist and docent at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs. He was a member of the AdAmAn Society, a group of professional men who hiked Pikes Peak every New Year's Eve to give Colorado Springs a midnight fireworks show. In his last months of life, as he was mostly confined to lying in bed, he would often say, "Like the Navajos, I see beauty in everything."
Survivors include his wife, Beatrice Brunk, of Bluffton; a daughter, Susie Swartley and her husband, Bill, of Bluffton; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Rene' Brunk; and a daughter, Jeannette Gingerich.
A family celebration of his life will take place at a later time.
Mennonite World Review, January 7, 2013, page 16
Milford Franklin Brunk, 90, of Bluffton, Ohio, died Dec. 5, 2012. He was born June 9, 1922, to Christian and Jeannette Leakey Brunk in Biglerville, Pa., the oldest of six siblings.
He married Beatrice Hartman on June 19, 1948, in Wissemborg, France, during a two-year term with Mennonite Central Committee, where he was part of a postwar reconstruction unit.
His love for nature and its beauty were reflected in his choices of work and recreation. He was a member of the Audubon Society in Phoenix, Ariz. He organized and led camping trips to Mexico and Northern Arizona and hikes down Havasu Canyon for the youth and young adults at Sunnyslope Mennonite Church. He and Bea moved their family to Colorado in the early 1960s when he became director of Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. During those 20 years, he designed and built buildings in the Swiss Chalet architectural style. He took classes in rock climbing and taught many campers how to repel off the face of Monkey Rock. His love of hiking resulted in his climbing 43 "14ers," as the 14,000- foot mountains of Colorado are referred to. He was an expert at identifying wildflowers.
After retirement from RMMC, he became an amateur naturalist and docent at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs. He was a member of the AdAmAn Society, a group of professional men who hiked Pikes Peak every New Year's Eve to give Colorado Springs a midnight fireworks show. In his last months of life, as he was mostly confined to lying in bed, he would often say, "Like the Navajos, I see beauty in everything."
Survivors include his wife, Beatrice Brunk, of Bluffton; a daughter, Susie Swartley and her husband, Bill, of Bluffton; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Rene' Brunk; and a daughter, Jeannette Gingerich.
A family celebration of his life will take place at a later time.
Mennonite World Review, January 7, 2013, page 16
He married Beatrice Hartman on June 19, 1948, in Wissemborg, France, during a two-year term with Mennonite Central Committee, where he was part of a postwar reconstruction unit.
His love for nature and its beauty were reflected in his choices of work and recreation. He was a member of the Audubon Society in Phoenix, Ariz. He organized and led camping trips to Mexico and Northern Arizona and hikes down Havasu Canyon for the youth and young adults at Sunnyslope Mennonite Church. He and Bea moved their family to Colorado in the early 1960s when he became director of Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. During those 20 years, he designed and built buildings in the Swiss Chalet architectural style. He took classes in rock climbing and taught many campers how to repel off the face of Monkey Rock. His love of hiking resulted in his climbing 43 "14ers," as the 14,000- foot mountains of Colorado are referred to. He was an expert at identifying wildflowers.
After retirement from RMMC, he became an amateur naturalist and docent at Bear Creek Nature Center in Colorado Springs. He was a member of the AdAmAn Society, a group of professional men who hiked Pikes Peak every New Year's Eve to give Colorado Springs a midnight fireworks show. In his last months of life, as he was mostly confined to lying in bed, he would often say, "Like the Navajos, I see beauty in everything."
Survivors include his wife, Beatrice Brunk, of Bluffton; a daughter, Susie Swartley and her husband, Bill, of Bluffton; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by a son, Rene' Brunk; and a daughter, Jeannette Gingerich.
A family celebration of his life will take place at a later time.
Mennonite World Review, January 7, 2013, page 16
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