Dr. Herbert Brum

A Letter to Dad , Dear dad ,It,s been 11 Monthes Since you passed away and it is still hard to except that your not here to talk to.You have always been there for me and I guess I never though about lossing you.Although the emptyness I feel from your loss is out weighed by the thankfulness and pride I feel from having you as my father. I see a little of you every day in my son,s and in myself. I want to thank you for being such a good father to me,you were always there with the stability and...

I met Herb and Genevieve at a Farm Bureau Council meeting. After joining, Herb,Genevieve, and I became good friends. Herb and I both had started our careers as vocational agriculture teachers and we were both WWII veterans. We had many good times together over the many years we had Farm Bureau Council meetings. He was a great guy and I learned many things from our interactions. I am very sorry to learn of his death. I wish Genevieve all the best. G. Howard Phillips

His given name was Herbert, my given name is Herbert, his middle initial is D. for Duane, mine is D. for Denison and here is where the similarities end. He was my critic teacher 50 years ago at Frankfort, Oh. I was 2 years older than Duane, (since I notice that is what most everyone called him,) however he had more knowledge of Agriculture than I ever thought I needed.I had a degree in horticulture and manged a peach orchard for my father in Vinton County. One of my assignments during my...

The Brums are the best thing the realtor did not tell us about more than 12 years ago when we first looked at our home, although we did fall in love that day with their yard, a place where you knew on sight that a family had shared great love and happiness. When we met Genevieve and Duane Brum, of course the pieces fell into place, and we were charmed by their kindness and generosity. Most striking was the love they shared. It was always such a comfort to see them out walking together, even...

Dedicated to Grandpa Brum

Goodnight my soldier

Goodnight my soldier, youv'e had a long life
Good night my good soldier, may you sleep well tonight
As you shut your eyes and say your good byes
you'll always remember as you keep them inside.
Goodnight my good soldier, you'll miss your wife
Who meant more to you than your life
And your kids you raised so well,
they turned out to be really swell.
Good night my...

We knew Dwayne for many years and were always touched by his gentle caring for Genevieve. We always enjoyed the more serious discussions among the husbands of the CCL and Dwayne's sensible observations and opinions. At one meeting Dwayne told about his experience with the army in Europe at the time of the Battle of the Bulge. We knew he must have had a rough time and certainly was the type of man written about by Tom Brokaw in the "Greatest Generation". He was an unassuming hero and had our...

If I be the first to die
Let grief not blacken long your sky
Be bold yet modest in your grieving
There is a change but not a leaving.
For just as death is part of life.
The dead live on forever in the living
And all the gathered riches of our journey
The moments shared, the mysteries explored
The steady layering of intimacy stored,
The things that made us laugh or weep or sing,
The joy of sunlit snow or first unfurling of...

As a younger cousin, I barely knew Duane until my adult life in central Ohio where we were with each other occasionally. When Duane or Genevieve mentioned he was assembling his WWII remembrances, I meant to indicate a casual interest. The perceptive Duane quickly mentioned I could read it; in short order I had a copy. I read it twice; I made it available to our daughters and my sister when they visited us. I was impressed. It revealed a Duane I had not known. Yet it was an expansion rather...

The Brum family was my idea of what a family should be. Genevieve and Dwane were the most loving couple I have ever met. What an inspiration to the rest of the world. Bud Glenn