Joseph Edwin Brundage

BRUNDAGE, Joseph Edwin Holland, MI; formerly of Kalamazoo Passed away peacefully on July 11, 2013 at The Inn of Freedom Village in Holland, MI. Joseph Edwin Brundage was born on August 5, 1916 in Kalamazoo, MI, the son of Homer Frederick and Bernice N. (Hodgeboom) Brundage. He graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School, and enrolled at Michigan State College (now MSU) in E. Lansing, MI where he received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1938. He was a member of the Army ROTC and upon graduation was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. On April 14, 1939 he married Thelma Mathilde Swanson at the First Presbyterian Church in Kalamazoo and she preceded him in death November 16, 2011. He was called to active military duty on July 16, 1941 and was stationed at The Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and at the Watervliet Arsenal in Albany, NY during the WW II conflict. He attained the rank of Major before his honorable discharge from service. He subsequently returned to employment with his family's business, The Brundage Company, in Kalamazoo, and later at The Kirsch Company in Sturgis, from which he retired as Corporate Director of Quality Control. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Holland, the MSU Varsity Club, an active volunteer for SCORE early in his retirement, an avid golfer until late in his life, loved watching the Detroit Tigers and the MSU Spartan teams on television, and doted on his daughters and grandchildren. He is survived by two daughters, Susan Ullrich of Ann Arbor and Nancy (Andrew) Miller of The Villages, FL; five grandchildren, Frederick J. (Carolyn) Ullrich, Kathryn (Jeffery) Hauk, Amy (Ian) Mitchell, M.D., Kari (William) Spallone, and Debra (Donald) Halterman, and ten great-grandchildren. He was also predeceased by his son-in-law John F. Ullrich; and his brother and sister-in-law, F. Ward and Mable Brundage. Interment will be in the family plot at Riverside Cemetery in Kalamazoo. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Joe's memory may be sent to Hospice of Holland, 270 Hoover Blvd., Holland, MI 49423. Memories and condolences may be left at www.avinkcremation.com