In Memory . . . Rev. Brigitte Elisabeth Brunhart (1955-2006)
Rev. Brunhart was born on November 11, 1955, in Bedburg, Germany. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in English and German Literature from the University of Utah in 1979 and went on to earn a Masters of Divinity degree from the Starr King School for Ministry in 1989. In 1988 she married and she and her husband moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Brunhart entered Preliminary Fellowship on February 29, 1992 and was ordained in June of that year. She served as part-time parish and religious education minister from fall, 1991 through spring, 1994 at the Olmsted UU Fellowship in Olmsted, Ohio, and during the winter of 1993 she trained Para Ministers at the Westshore UU Church of Cleveland. In the summer of 1994 she introduced members of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland to Sufism, and the aspects of Goddess worship. In February of 1995 Rev. Burnhart trained and supported Lay Ministers at First Church along with Senior Minister Reverend Bruce Marshall.
Brigitte worked mainly in community ministry, serving as a hospital and hospice chaplain. From 1991 to 1995 she was a volunteer chaplain at the Hospice for the Western Reserve. In the fall of 1993 she held a temporary position of On-Call Chaplain at the Metro Health Medical Center in Cleveland, and in 1995 Brigitte served as staff chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and also as an On-Call Chaplain at the St. Vincent Charity Hospital.
Her partner wrote this about Brigitte “Although she struggled all her adult life against debilitating illness, she pursued a career in ministry with great determination. Throughout her life, she had a powerful effect on others. She made many friends from around the world and, through her steadfastness and generosity, kept a close friendship until the end of her life.”
She will be mourned by her husband John McBratney and her children Indra and Kumar Brunhart-McBratney.
Messages of Remembrance may be sent to:
John McBratney
11516 Parkway Road
Chardon, OH 44024
A memorial service will be held at the East Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, 10848 Chillicothe Road, Kirtland, Ohio, on Saturday, October 7, 2006, at 2:00 p.m. There will also be a second memorial at Saint Francis Chapel, John Carroll University, 20700 North Park Boulevard, University Heights, Ohio, on Sunday, October 8, 2006 at 2:00 pm.