Frederic Wiliam Brundage's Obituary
Frederic William Brundage was born on January 5th 1943 in Mt. Kisco, New York to Rosalind Hogg Brundage and Jay Mildred Brundage Jr. He attended Trinity Prep School in Pawling, New York, where he was a football running back and scholarship winner. He matriculated to Wesleyan University where he earned a BA in English and the University of California at Berkeley where he was awarded his MA in English. A true visionary and forward thinker, Bill was committed to diversity and traveled on the Wesleyan-Tuskegee Institute Exchange Program where he met his first wife, Kathryn Marie Waddell (Takara). After graduation in 1965, they travelled to France in 1966 where
he attended the University of Bordeaux for a 1st Degree for Foreigners and worked as Lecture Americain at the University of Bordeaux as head of the University’s American Library.
Bill’s interracial marriage along with the creativity and social movements of the 60’s took him to Hawaii where he taught English at Iolani High School and later decided to dedicate his life to writing. While at Iolani he started a men’s group in Honolulu and was active in the anti-war movement. In 1972, he returned to his family trade of roofing and married his second wife, Jo Kim. Life took him to Haiku, Maui where he lived in a Bamboo forest until 1982, when he moved back to New York after his mother took ill. He brought her to the Big Island where he built his final home from recycled material in Hawaiian Acres and cared for her until the end of her life. He chose to live off the grid for as long as he was physically able. He is remembered for his love for the land and community of friends he found in Hawaiian Acres. He was a man ahead of his time in many ways. He always had a passion for the earth and he practiced his beliefs in his conservation and in living as self-sufficiently and off the land as possible. He was a firm believer in recycling and he started a recycling center at the Hawaiian Acres Community Center in the 70’s. He lived an artful life and had a passion for truth. He always spoke or wrote what he believed to be true, writing many letters to the editor, some of which were published by the Honolulu Star Bulletin as well as the Anderson Valley Advertiser and others. Bill was an inspiration to many as a writer and artist and shared with those his love of his land. He chose to live a life of freedom, which he valued more than anything.
Bill is survived by his daughter, Karla Brundage and granddaughter Asha Brundage-Moore, his brother Jay Brundage III and Jay’s wife Barbara and their family.
A private service will be held on Zoom please contact me at [email protected] for details. In lieu of flowers, please send your donation to the Hilo Humane Society or Wesleyan University.
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