Wilbur Leon Brill

Wilbur Leon Brill, age 92, son of General and Zelma Gladys (Scott) Brill was born July 17, 1933, near Astoria, Missouri. He passed away October 2, 2025, at his home in Springfield, Missouri.
Wilbur is preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, Junior, Norman, Scott, Farris; and one sister, Ireta Brill Cole.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Lorene Graham Brill; two sons, Michael (Jack Laufer) of Rancho Mirage, California and Mark of Springfield, Missouri; one sister, Carolyn Collins of Houston, Missouri; two nephews, Kirby Brill, Ed Brill; and four nieces, Colleen Haynie, Debbie Jeffress, Brenda Crail, and Stephanie Mesplay.
He grew up on a large farm southwest of Houston on Big Piney River. He attended Cleveland, a one-room rural elementary school, and Houston High School, Houston, Missouri.
Wilbur graduated from Houston High School in 1951, then spent four years in the Air Force stationed mainly at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. While stationed there he started his college career by taking business law and psychology classes at Boise Junior College (now Boise State).
After leaving the Air Force, Wilbur operated a Sinclair Service Station in Houston, MO for two years. In 1957, he sold the service station and started college at University of Missouri in Columbia, MO using the benefits under the GI Bill. In 1958, he transferred to Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State University) in Springfield, MO. He married Lorene Graham on August 17, 1958, and continued college under the GI Bill. In June of 1959, their first son, Michael Scott was born. Wilbur received a BS Degree in Education from Southwest Missouri State in the summer of 1960.
In 1960, Wilbur started teaching social studies at the junior high school in Houston, MO. He also coached junior high softball and basketball. Mark Lynn, his second son, was born in December of 1960.
Starting in 1962, Wilbur worked as a guidance counselor in the Waynesville-Fort Leonard Wood Schools and later was promoted to Director of Guidance. He earned a Master's Degree in Education from Missouri University in 1964. In 1967, he began his career as guidance counselor in Springfield R-12 at Glendale and Central High Schools.
He was a founding member of SNEA, Springfield National Education Association. He served as chairman of the Public Relations Committee and edited the SNEA newsletter for four years, then served as SNEA president four more years. It took courage to make presentations to the board of education advocating for students and teachers, but he did it time and time again. One major accomplishment of SNEA during this time was to convince the board to build libraries in each elementary school.
Wilbur always planted a large garden, growing everything from tomatoes to asparagus. He enjoyed sharing with others and one summer became known as "the cucumber man" because as he did his daily walk, he would carry a sack of cucumbers to share with others.
He loved to travel and visit family in other states. He visited most states, many state and national parks, many cities, special events like HemisFair in San Antonio, World's Fair in Knoxville, TN, and King Tut exhibit in Memphis, TN. We walked around Mackinac Island, biked perimeter of Martha's Vineyard and climbed Stone Mountain in Georgia. We often camped in a tent, and a favorite camping spot was Cape Hatteras National Seashore off NC.
Walking was very important to him. He often walked on Ozark Greenways trails, streets in our neighborhood, and the hills and hollers of his land on Cathcart Hollow near Houston, MO.
He almost always had some building projects going on. He used blueprints to build a saltbox style storage shed, built a barn to house equipment and tools, added gates to privacy fences, installed new windows, and remodeled our Hwy M house from top to bottom. One summer he and two teacher friends built and sold a house in Nixa. When our Dayton Avenue house needed roofing, we tore off the old shingles and roofed it by ourselves.
Wilbur's values were demonstrated through the employment he chose: summer job as Head Start Coordinator for Pulaski County, summer job as employment counselor, College Night director for a few years. He conducted workshops on the author William Glasser. And above all, he chose a career in guidance and counseling which he worked at for 32 years.
Wilbur was politically active, feeling that was a way he could contribute to his community and nation. He did everything from personally campaigning to attending national conventions.
In 1994, he retired from Springfield R-12 school district. For several years he volunteered with Ozark Greenways building trails and was selected as Volunteer of the Year in 1998.
He became interested in genealogy and spent much time researching ancestors and writing about them. This information he shared with family and with others through Ancestry.com. Upon learning that all Brill family photos had accidentally been destroyed, Wilbur set about replacing them by contacting extended family to borrow and copy their pictures. He filled notebooks with the information he obtained. When he found some relatives had no headstones and some headstones were becoming unreadable, he purchased and placed, with the assistance of other relatives, twenty-three small headstones.
Wilbur wrote a historical narrative about the Cleveland Community telling who lived there and describing where each family lived. The Texas County Missouri Genealogical and Historical Society printed it in one of their publications. In 2007, he traveled around Texas County and took pictures of one room schools. These were included in the "Texas County Heritage Series Volume IV Rural Schools of Texas County". He wrote and self-published a book titled "My Story and Family History" and shared copies with family members and libraries.
In 2021, Wilbur was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus which is a slowly progressive fatal disease. St. Croix Hospice has worked with him since January 2025. Their staff members have always been efficient, kind, and helpful in every way. Thank you, Zach, Jessie, Indy, and Cindy. Visiting Angels and Cornerstone Caregiving have made it possible for him to stay in his home. A big thank you to Kathleen, Giselle, Bene, Stormie, Tera, Sherra, Golden, Austin, and Chandler who cared for Wilbur with skill and loving kindness.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made in Wilbur's name to any of the following organizations: C.A.R.E Rescue Animal Shelter, Ozark Greenways, Doctors Without Borders.
A graveside service for Wilbur will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 11:00 AM at Green Mountain Cemetery 7790 Highway 95, Mountain Grove, MO. Interment will follow. Immediately following the service, family and friends will gather at the Event Room at Cactus Inn & Suites, 300 E 19th St, Mountain Grove, MO. Arrangements entrusted to Evans Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.evansfh.com.