Barbara studied and loved performance dancing. She was attending community college in Flint, when she attended the wedding of a friend, and at that wedding met her husband-to-be (Gerald (Jerry) Brundle). It was love at first sight for him, and though it was not for her, he was able to win her heart, and they were engaged just three months later. On July 31, 1965, nine months after they were engaged, they were married, a marriage that lasted for more than 55 years. Barb was the breadwinner in their first year of marriage, working as a Ward Clerk in Surgery at McLaren Hospital in Flint, because Jerry still had one year remaining in his undergraduate studies.
Two years later, Barb had her first baby, their daughter Lisa, and three years after that she had her second, their son Scott. Barb was the consummate mom, loving and caring for her children throughout the rest of her life. She especially loved the vacations that the four of them took together each year until college schedules interfered. She also especially loved being with both of her sisters-in-law and their children in the years when she lived close to all of them.
Barb was a people person. She loved people, and made many, many long-term and lifetime friends. One of her greatest loves was participating in church-based Bible studies and leading women’s Bible studies in four of the churches in which Jerry pastored. Though she studied the Bible and theology in seminary while Jerry studied to become a pastor, she never presumed to be a scholar, but would teach the message of the Gospel as she understood it, listening to the views of others, seeking growth in the understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all who participated. She loved her women friends genuinely, building lasting friendships wherever she went in the eleven cities in which she lived during her marriage. Many of those friends have commented years later that their lives were made better by having had Barb as a teacher and a friend.
Barb is now in the very presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. She is survived by her husband, Jerry; their children, Lisa Beck (Brian) of Arlington,TN; Scott Brundle (Amy) of Raleigh, NC; their granddaughter Samantha Beck of Arlington, TN; her sister-in-law Joanne Guichard (Larry) of Atlanta, GA; her sister-in-law Linda Moore (Keith) of Atlanta, GA; and a cousin who was raised as her sister Donna Fortune (Larry) of Flushing, MI; as well as many nieces, nephews and their spouses and children; and an uncountable number of friends.
Family will receive friends from 9:00am to 10:00am on Friday, March 5th at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 3700 N. Germantown Rd, Bartlett, TN. A celebration of life will follow at 10:00am. A reception will be from 11:30am to 1:30pm following the committal service.
