Robert J. Brummond

Robert Junior Brummond, age 94, passed away March 27, 2019 at the Sanford Intensive Care Unit in Fargo, North Dakota.
Robert was born September 11, 1924 to Robert John and Hazel May (Betts) Brummond on the family farm in Center Creek Township, Minnesota. He attended school in nearby Granada. Following graduation from high school, Robert attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota for one year before being drafted into the U.S. Army in June 1943. His pilot training program was canceled as more foot soldiers were needed after D-Day. In the 12th Armored Division, he survived both Battles of the Bulge, earning three Bronze Stars, and was among the first troops to cross the Danube River, later serving in the Occupation Forces. After returning home from Europe, he benefited from the G.I. Bill to return to Macalester where he received a B.A. degree in physics and German in 1948.
The first of Robert’s teaching positions were in Wykoff and Pemberton, Minnesota, teaching classes ranging from agriculture to driver’s training, in addition to physical sciences. He also served as the high school principal. In 1951, he met Joyce Muriel Herrlinger at a teachers’ meeting and they were married September 29, 1951 in Dovray, Minnesota. Bob and Joyce moved to Stuart, Iowa where their son Donald was born. The family moved to Emmetsburg, Iowa where Robert taught at Emmetsburg Community College and daughter Janice was born. During summers he attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota, receiving degrees in physics and science education in 1955.
In 1956 he was recruited to join the physics department at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, teaching physics, earth sciences, and astronomy for 35 years. Throughout his tenure, he participated in sabbatical studies and summer seminars, teaching and studying at universities in Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Tennessee, and Washington state. A particular joy for him was leading Earth Science summer seminars for Concordia students throughout the western United States. He and his wife Joyce also spent a memorable semester at the Hamar Laererhogskole before he retired from Concordia College in 1990. During the 1980s and 1990s he facilitated Operation Physics Workshops for elementary and middle school science teachers throughout the region. Robert was a lifelong member of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Physical Society, F-M Astronomy Club, the International Dark Sky Society, the Red River Chapter of the American Meteorological Society and others. For many years he was active in ND-AARP programs and led Elderhostel astronomy seminars at Camp Maplelag, Calloway, Minnesota. He served in various capacities at both Moorhead and Fargo Presbyterian Churches, most recently as moderator of a men’s breakfast group in Fargo.
Lifelong learning was Robert’s burning passion, for himself and others. He was always striving to share his great joy and wonderment of science, the world-indeed life-with others. Bob traveled countless miles around the world to classes, conferences, meetings, and workshops to feed his curiosity. He was always reading, always researching.
Robert loved the outdoors. He enjoyed traveling and visited many places with Joyce and their family. He liked to camp, sail, kayak, canoe, hike, and ride his bike. The all too infrequent Nordic ski, round of golf, or game of cribbage were always highlights for Bob. Robert delighted in family trips to the UP of Michigan to tend to his daughter’s Mongolian ger (yurt).
Above all, Robert loved his family and was dedicated to them. He is survived by his beloved wife of 68 years, Joyce, son Donald (significant other, Barbara Edin) Fargo, daughter Janice, Washington, D.C., a sister Helen Brummond, and brother D. W. “Bill” Brummond, both of Truman, Minnesota along with a large extended family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the International Dark Sky Association, the Great Plains Food Bank, or the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer.

Memorial Service: Monday, April 8th, 2019, at 2:00 P.M. in First Presbyterian Church, Fargo, ND.