Louis W. Brummer ’39 died on March 2, 2015, in Greenville, South Carolina.

(The following was provided by Louis’s son, Bill)

Louis W. Brummer ’39

Louis William Brummer, ’39 died on March 2, 2015 in Greenville, SC, where he had resided since 1961. Born on July 13, 1917, in New Britain, CT, he prepared for college at Newton (MA) High School and became a member of Zeta Psi fraternity at Bowdoin in 1935. He was President of his local chapter in his senior year.

Following his graduation cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1939, he was employed by General Electric Company in Schenectady, NY, in their business training program. Subsequently, he worked for John Hancock Insurance Company in Boston in their fledgling group insurance department before being drafted into the Army in June of 1941. Following Officers’ Training School he was commissioned in August 1942 and then served in California, the Philippine Islands, and Japan, until discharged in January 1946. His rank as Company Commander was Captain.

He joined Dennison Manufacturing Company in Framingham (MA) as a cost accountant, and later moved to the new Chemstrand Corporation, manufacturers of nylon and Acrilan. After five years in Pensacola, FL, he was transferred to company headquarters in New York City for another five years as assistant corporate controller. In 1961 Chemstrand sent him to Greenville, SC, to direct a new operation, the Management Information Center, which utilized early computers in production planning, sales service, inventory management, and allied functions. After ten years in this capacity he left Monsanto (which had bought out Chemstrand) to join a newly incorporated bank in Greenville as director and chairman of their business assistance function. He retired in 1982 and continued to serve as a member of the bank’s advisory board for many years.

He married Ruth M. Pfost in 1942 and they had five children who survive: William Brummer of North Augusta, SC; Janet Yusi of Greenville, SC; Joan Criswell of Garland, TX; David Brummer of Springfield, VA; and Paul Brummer of Salem, NC; along with fifteen grandchildren and twenty-one great-grandchildren. After Ruth died in 1980 he married Sara R. Stivers, who died in 1992. He then married Edith W.B. Wright, who died in 2014.

Lou was active in civic affairs, having been a board member, president, or treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, the United Way, Goodwill Industries, Service Corps of Retired Executives, Rotary Club, and Greenville Chorale. He was an active church member and class leader as well as being significantly involved with Habitat for Humanity, and Meals on Wheels.