Brubaker

My parents and brother drove down from CT to visit us for the holidays, and my dad told me he was bringing a small box of my old stuff with them. When they arrived, I took the box to the garage, not paying much attention to it. From the items I saw on top – my college fraternity paddle and an old ABC Sports banner – I assumed it was the typical ephemera that might have been found in my old bedroom. Nothing notable.

A few days ago, after straightening up some items in the garage, I thought to take a closer look in this box. Curiously, beneath the paddle and the banner, were several items I’d never seen before. I did recognize an old book, “A Dictionary of Symbols”, that was in a cardboard sleeve, typical of the casings my grandfather would construct to hold many of his books. Everything else was unexpected: a folder full of stencils, pages torn from old design magazines explaining methods of drafting charts and graphs, a watercolor swatchbook, oil pastels, and technical pens. The pens look slightly more modern, and the pastels may have been my mom’s, but the stencils and magazine pages surely would have been tools my grandfather had gathered to aid in his graphic design work. These artifacts conjured feelings and images of a time long past, when the craft of design involved painstaking rendering, and careful hand work. In an industry that has been completely transformed by the rendering power of the computer, and again by the communications revolution of the internet, these items seem prehistoric. It was dizzying.

It was a pleasant surprise to find, and I must remember to thank my parents for dumping that “box of old stuff” here.

DelawareOnline ran an article on my uncle George, who has retired after 22 years as a Chaplain in the Delaware Air National Guard.

This fall the 166th Airlift Wing in New Castle recognized Brubaker for his service since 1985. Brubaker, 60, has retired from the Guard, though he continues as priest at St. John the Apostle in Milford and St. Bernadette in Harrington.

…

Articulate and soft-spoken, Brubaker struck some as an unlikely military man…But his unassuming manner served Brubaker well in the military. It made him approachable, says Master Sgt. Stephen W. Prasser, a chaplain’s assistant.

His father, the subject of this blog, is another unlikely military man, at least in my opinion. While I don’t really know the details of his time in the service (and maybe the elder Brubakers can shed some light for us here…), I do know he had the opportunity to design a logo for his unit, submit artwork to a publication, and paint at least one mural for a building in Santa Monica, while stationed there.

So they both were able to pursue their passion and bring some extra positivity to the military experience in times of war.

Well done.

This one is called Blue Beyond, and it used to have layers of blue cellophane scraps in it. Over time, it seems that the cellophane deteriorated and discolored.

The center of the upper shape was repainted with a bright red-orange, giving the painting a new life.

Christopher D’Anna, of Mars Supermarkets, was nice enough to send me these images of several Brubaker paintings that he has at his offices in Baltimore.

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Posted on the armyairforces.com forum, 7/30/2003 1:35:29 PM

Subject: 1030th AAFBU - Santa Monica, CA
Anyone have any information about it?
My grandfather (Amos “Bud” Herr Brubaker) was there for some period of time between 1941 and 1945. He designed the logo: Most of what I know, came from someone he met there, who unfortunately, hasn’t written me back in some time… He writes, “The 1030th AAFBU was a rest and relaxation base (or perhaps more accurately, a spa) for Army Air Force personnel returning from overseas duty while they awaited reassignment. ” I can never seem to find anything when searching for more info.
Any ideas?
Thanks, Ben