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A Godly Life
The Remarkable Journey of James Donald Brunk
Some people do a lot in their lives. And in some lives, God does even more! Welcome to this celebration of an amazing man who led an amazing life.
There is a lot here. Take your time.
Visit the side pages by clicking the blue button in each section.
I guarantee you will discover things you never knew; things that will help you understand Pops more deeply; things that the Lord wants to show us about much more than just Pops. God is still teaching us through Pops.
This website is a place for all of us to post our stories. If you have memories you'd like to share, put them in writing, or even better, do a short selfie video and click on the submit button to upload it. Pics and other memorabilia welcomed!
This watercolor image “The Groundskeeper” was painted by Mary Whyte. Read more about the painting and the artist ...
Scroll down to start the journey
Born April 30, 1928 in Berkeley, CA to Benjamin Franklin and Esther Norton Brunk
Lived in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico
¿Se Hablo Espanol?
Childhood in Mexico 1928-1937
> Unca Bunk and Essie spent so much of their time in the states doing business that the cook essentially raised Frank and Pops. In truth, Frank, Pops' older brother, became like a Father to Pops. So much so that a therapist once said that Pops never really gave his all to football, a sport at which Frank famously excelled, because there was no way Pops would ever let himself truly compete with Frank. Instead of the normal brotherly rivalry, Pops held Frank on a pedestal because Frank was Pop's savior.
> The train that took everyone to and from Ciudad Obregon was regularly robbed by none other than the remnants of Pancho Villa's gang. Most of the passengers became so friendly with the robbers that they stored the money for them in an obvious place, like their wallet or purse, and then hid the rest of their money elsewhere. Apparently, the atmosphere was not so much threatening as it was social.
> Unca Bunk and Essie (what people called Pop's folks) had a large ranch in Mexico. So, that is where Pops and his older brother Frank lived until they were about 10.
The Super Jock
Bay Area – Teen through college 1937-1951
Tamalpais School for Boys
in Marin Co. California
> From age 10 through his Jr year of High School, Pops went to an all-boys Boarding school with Frank. Frank continued to be Pop's protector, Father figure, guide. Pops really didn't like talking about this time in his life. But, in one particularly vulnerable moment, Pops broke down and said he didn't know what he would have ever done without Frank. To Pops, it was those two against the world. Frank recently confirmed that it felt like that to him too.
> Pops played a mean clarinet in a jazz band, back when Benny Goodman made the clarinet cool.
JAZZ BAND
> In college, Pops was picked to win the most important tourney of the year. He and Muzz were still getting to know each other. She couldn't be there at the beginning of the match but did make it later. She crested the hill just in time to see Pops "punishing his driver against a tree," as Frank said. He didn't win.
> Pops was a very gifted athlete. In high school he lettered in Football, Basketball, Track, and Baseball, and continued to play most of these at various levels at the University of California Berkeley. But that was just the beginning: he was a Golden Glove boxing champion, Bowler extraordinaire, Ping Pong wiz, and just about everything else you could imagine.
SPORTS!
> His claim to fame, though, the thing that set him apart, was golf. He became Captain of the UC Berkeley Team, one of the country's top teams. In the military, when higher-ups in the armed services or State Department were negotiating treaties and other agreements, they would fly Pops all over the world to play with foreign dignitaries because he could lose to them by one stroke, without them knowing. The pictures of him by the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx are from when he played with Anwar Sadat.
Fadda (2nd from left) and
Unca Bunk (far right) golfing
> Sometime after Muzz first saw Pops strolling across the quad and fell for him, Pops and Muzz' parents became fast friends. Mudda and Fadda (Bill and Marion Jaeger) Muzz' foks, and Unca Bunk and Essie (Frank and Esther Brunk) began to think how great it would be if Don and Jo became an item. MORE...
> Fadda and Mudda had a place right on the beach of Marla Bay, Lake Tahoe. It was the stuff of Frankie and Annette movies (only Pops was more studly and Muzz more alluring).
AUDIO: Punishing the Driver
A Match Made in Heaven
Wedding 1953
> Pops and Muzz (Don and Jo at the time) loved Tahoe so much they picked St John Church that overlooks the lake.
> In trying to recapture the details of this story, we talked to Bev Harris (Jaeger), a bridesmaid, who said: "I probably wasn't worried about Don getting there because Don always did what he said he was going to do."
> Pops was in Basic Training and so had to hop a cargo plane to the Bay area, then a host of other makeshift rides to get there just in time for the wedding. The minute it was done, he had to Plane, Train and Automobile it back to base.
> Fadda, who knew Frank Sinatra, thought it would be a great idea to have him sing at their wedding! Muzz, the anti-snob, realized the circus that would come with that and shot it down immediately. Fadda had a lot of great ideas, and like Muzz, was a force of nature, so she had to shoot a lot of things down.
The Perfect Soldier
Military Service 1951-1955
> "Outstanding Cadet" of his class, Pops got his Naval Aviator Wings, and as only an Ensign, he became the Pilot/Plane Commander of multi-crew, multi-engine, Naval Patrol Submarine Hunter. He was the only Ensign, in fact, the youngest person in the Navy, to be a Plane Commander.
> His feel for the plane and what was needed was so deft
that the Navy put him to work training new pilots in the
most dangerous, difficult airstrips. It nearly killed him.
> After a few years in the military, Pops' commanding officer had to write an evaluation. He brought Pops in and explained that for the first time ever, he had absolutely nothing but superlatives to say about a soldier under his command. Then he had to explain that if he actually wrote an evaluation like that, the other commanders would think there was a cover-up because no one is that perfect. And so, the Commander said, he was going to ding Pops in one very small area, which was not actually true, so that others would trust the eval.
> Pops and Muzz moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming, because of her life-long love of horses from her summers spent at the HD Curtis Ranch. He got a job flying for Empire Oil State Company. So, off they went to Thermop for what was a deeply blessed, Norman Rockwell life.
> Starting as a pilot for Empire Oil State Company, Pops ascended to VP of Exploration, drilling as far away as Saudi Arabia.
> Thermop was as rich as life could be. First, Pops had more than a full-time job. Then add the HD Curtis Ranch; designing and building the town golf course; becoming a State Senator; serving on every board imaginable; and last but certainly not least, five fully raging testosterone-addled boys. It is a wonder that either Pops or Muzz survived. But they did, and in a way that gave the boys a truly incredible life. We lacked for nothing, least of all love and the occasional wise nugget just when needed.
"Youth sometimes does foolish things."
—CHIEF WASHAKIE
The Perfect Role Model
Thermopolis 1955-1970
Mr. Smith Goes to Cheyenne
Political Service 1960-1972
> Pops was, and still may be, the youngest person to ever serve in the Wyoming State Senate. He was only 29. The museum in Thermopolis still has the desk where he sat.
Senator (Wyoming State)
1960-1972
> He was such a good politician, meaning he was so popular, that the powers that be recruited him to run for Governor. He was the odds on favorite. But, by that time, he was done with politics. So, he told them: if you want me to run, I'll put a chair on the porch of the Post Office in Moneta [a town which sits dead center of Wyo and only has a Post Office and a Liquor Store] and if anyone has any questions they can come and ask. The committee found another candidate.
> Pops never became Governor, but Dave Freudenthal did. Dave was a young man Pops hired right out of college to be his Chief of Staff, a position not typically given to someone right out of college. But Pops had a real knack for spotting talent. Dave was so talented that he became a two-term governor, despite being a Democrat in deeply Republican Wyo. Getting hired by Pops was Dave's springboard. Wyo still is the kind of State where the content of your character is more important than the letter by your name.
> To hear the real reason Pops was done with politics, you'll have to watch the funny video where he reveals his "aha" moment of truth. Hint, he realized he too had "Potomac Fever."
The backstory to this vid is that Pops was exiting a big meeting in Casper when he was asked a question by a reporter who was also a semi-friend. Pops answered the question. The reporter thanked him on air, then had the cameraman turn off the camera and said what you hear on the video.
Ensuring Wyoming's Future
Cheyenne and Governmental Service 1970-1974
Department of Economic Planning and Development (DEPAD) 1970 - 1974
> Appointed by
Gov. Stan Hathaway
Oversaw Industrial, Water, Mineral Development,
Chief of Planning
> DEPAD, is arguably the most important Department in the State of Wyoming's government. It is undoubtedly the top appointment in the State. The legendary Governor, Stan Hathaway, appointed Pops to run the Department in 1970.
More than once, late at night, in a blizzard where you often couldn't see the front of your car, we were driving 60 miles or more following the cop car that was closing I-80.
FULL STORY...
Christ draws them both
A Life of Service
Boards, Public Service, Education
Boards and Public Service
Federal Home Loan Bank Board 1976-1979
Industrial Siting Council – Wyoming 1974-1978
Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 1967-1971
First Wyoming Bank Board 1980-1984
Director – Chamber of Commerce - Thermopolis
Distinguished Service Award 1961
Thermopolis Junior Chamber of Commerce
Hospital Board – Hot Springs County, WY 1969-
Advisor to Technical College of the Rockies 1969-
Distributive Education Clubs of America 1969-
> Federal Home Loan Bank Board 1976-1979
Appointed by Dick Cheney.
City Planning Committee - Thermopolis
Thermopolis Improvement Corporation
Industrial Relations Consultant, Hot Springs County
Wyoming Youth Council
Director – Little League
American Legion
BPOE
Rotary
Toastmasters
Special recognition from the White House!
Education
UC Berkeley BA 1947-1951
Stanford Executives Program, School of Business 1966
Dunn and Bradstreet Business Course – Credit and Financial Analysis
American Management Seminars (various specialties)
"Pops"
Jackson and God 1974-2019
> After Cheyenne's trials and tribulations form a very public, controversial job, and boys who were inelegantly becoming men, the folks pseudo-retired to Jackson. God seemed to agree that they needed the break and so planted them in paradise. And He gifted them with the last two sons, Randy and Chip, who learned what not to do from their older siblings and so matured much more gracefully. Peace and tranquility reigned. Until Pops became a pastor, and then all hell broke loose…
> Jackson is where Don and Jo became Pops and Muzz. First, they became honest to goodness, full-fledged Christians. They attended First Baptist (First B) and got involved in a Bible Study with Don Landis, a pastor from another church. Don (and his sparkling wife Beverly who is wonderful) has a way of bringing the Word alive. It was a life that captured Pops and Muzz. Before long, they were serving in every way imaginable, bringing life to everyone they met.
And, amazingly, though they were approaching old age where their skin began to sag, their shoulders began to droop, and their waistlines let loose a bit, something happened to both of them when they accepted Christ. For at least the next 10 years, they looked younger and younger every year! It was like a physical manifestation of having become new in Him! From bearing the burdens of the world, they went to being overjoyed! And that is the word, joy, that best described their new life.
> And love… JD (Don) Brunk went from being a tremendous human being to a big cry baby. To explain, Pops, before Christ, was a bit distant emotionally. That was not something people who knew him BC would say because it just wasn't that evident. But, when he made Jesus his Lord, the part of him that had closed up as a child, so as not to be hurt, opened. And out came this loving, tender, caring man who was regularly so touched so deeply he would shed a tear. Before Christ, it is doubtful anyone ever saw him cry. After? It wasn't waterworks, but it was wonderful. How many have been touched by his compassion, empathy, or even just how completely thankful he was to God? You could feel his care. And see it, on his cheek.
And that was when he became Pops…
Muzz, on the other hand, always had her "girls," and so she got to "Muzz" much earlier. But, for her too, when Christ became all, she, and what she did for others, blossomed into a whole new realm!
Home Church
> Mike and Bobbie Dailey, Doug and Linde Eggers, David and Susie Neville, Doug and Mandy Howard, Ginny Dornan made up the core of the Home Church that sprang up in the Middle Cabin. This was their church.
Twilight
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> When Muzz developed dementia in the last years, Pops revealed a new depth of ministry. She had always been a central focus of his, but now he became wholly about whatever she needed. He felt she had served him for the whole of their lives, and now he was going to serve her with everything he had.
IMMEDIATE FAMILY
JIM & JAN
Bo, Jackie
DAVE & JAN
Jenny, Joel & Laura, Josh, Angie
CURT & JULIE
Shalimar & Chris Mazetis, Chapelle & Tyler Ryon (Piper Jo, Carter)
RANDY & NANCY
Tim & Laurel (Asher, Paxton), Elisabeth & Andy
(Jackson, Emma), Greg & Alison (Lilly Beth - debuting May 2021)
CHIP & TRISH
Shelby, Sean, Anna
A Very Full Quiver
Family, Adopted Family, Extended Family, Friends - Moments
RELATIVES
FRANK & JENER BRUNK
(Brother and sister in law)
Jamie & John Buffington, Steven & Rebecca Brunk, Jody & Paul Knowlton
POOZ & Lila Jaeger
(Muzzy’s brother)
Betsey Morganthaler, Billy & Colleen, Jeff & Kris, and Jack & Joanne Jaeger
ADOPTED AND EXTENDED FAMILY
What made this family all the more beautiful was the number of adopted
and extended family!
Message from Randy: Dad was a man of peace
Message from Chip: Driving the car
Popisms
The Wise, Old, Funny Sage
"There's nothing like a fresh set of tires, a full tank of gas, and your home town in the rearview"
> When watching the Broncos he had two favorite things to say, both ironically. As soon as the other team scored: "well there's the ballgame." And when the Broncos got hopelessly behind: "we got em right where we want em."
"Never cut your firewood bigger than your wife can handle."
"A man's gotta
do, what a man's
gotta do."
(Something he often said to Julie, because they both share that sense of things. And also because he was hoping to help her through the latest thing Curt felt led to do.)
"If I had known how seriously difficult getting old is, I'd have eaten a lot less oatmeal."
Twilight
Prologue to a Life Well Lived
> Mudda, a superbly wise woman, always said that if you had two lives, you would live the first as a generalist–a person proficient at a wide range of things. This makes you a well-rounded person. The second, you would live as a specialist–digging down so deeply into one thing that you became as good as you could possibly be at that. This would give you knowledge and understanding that went far beyond what you could otherwise know. She said that since we only have one life, we should live it as a generalist.
Somehow, Pops managed to do both. And that made the well deeper in him than anyone ever really knew. We would catch glimpses every so often. It would make a deep impression. But then he would return to unassuming Pops, the one that everyone simply loved, the one that everyone simply wanted to be like.
Thankfully, there was one area where the depth in him touched others like no other. And that was his relationship with God. Pops was a pure, supremely humble, supremely trusting vessel of whatever God wanted to do. That's what Pops would most want people to know of His life. And we did. Thank you, Pops. Thank you, Lord.
Read Pop's Obituary
Last picture of Pops. Feels like the elk are just waiting to escort him home..."