Brunk, Erma Hess (1939-2002)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2002 Jul 1 p. 7

Birth date: 1939 Jun 24

text of obituary:

'Real Mennonite' on Web dies at 62

By Mennonite Mission Network

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Erma Hess Brunk, who served on the response team for Mennonite Media's Third Way Café Web site, died June 14 at a Charlottesville hospital. She was 62.

Brunk had worked as human resources coordinator and assistant to the director of Mennonite Media in Harrisonburg since March 1996.

"Frequently people specifically asked to correspond with a 'real Mennonite,'" said Melodie Davis, a writer and producer for Mennonite Media. "One of [Erma's] favorite stories involved a young schoolgirl who was writing about Mennonites for a school project. The girl was excited because her father was going to help her build 'a Mennonite from scratch.'"

Brunk had said she "enjoyed trying to respond to the variety of questions that come in. This has brought a new frontier in my own spiritual growth and life."

Burton Buller, director of Mennonite Media, and Brunk saw her role as an opportunity to have dialogue about the important questions of life.

"Erma was the person who represented the Mennonite church to people who had never made contact with a Mennonite," Buller said. "She was the 'real Mennonite' that people were looking for."

Brunk had been director of housing at Eastern Mennonite University at Harrisonburg. She had worked as a librarian at EMU and at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond. She also had taught elementary school and had served with her husband, George R. Brunk III, as a missionary in Italy for six years with Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions.

Brunk was born June 24, 1939, at Landisville, Pa. the daughter of Mervin and Ella Good Hess. She was a graduate of Lancaster (Pa.) Mennonite High School and EMU.

In addition to her husband, Brunk is survived by a son, Douglas L. Brunk of Philadelphia; a daughter, Valerie Brunk hertzler of Harrisonburg; a grandson and four brothers.

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2002 Jul 15 p. 8