The Rev. Dr. Harry E. Brunett (Seabury Western DMin ’98), died peacefully from natural causes on January 27, 2024, at his residence at Balfour Senior Living in Littleton, Colorado, aged 88.
Brunett was born on January 18, 1936, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Harry E. Brunett and Minnie Lano Brunett and is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Joan Forsell Brunett, his children, Stephen Brunett and his fiancé Constance Metcalfe Khademi, David Brunett and his wife Barbara Jo Ensor Brunett, Elizabeth Brunett Keyser and her husband Matthew Keyser and his eight grandchildren, Lexi, Shayleigh, Wesley, Shelby, Brady, Carly, Malory and Riley. In addition, he is survived by his sister-in-law Anne Marie Nabhan, his niece Deborah Nabhan and his nephew Gregory Nabhan.
Brunett graduated from the McDonough School in 1954 and attended Washington and Lee University where he received his BA in Philosophy in 1958. He obtained his MA Degree in Philosophy from Boston University in 1959 and his B.D. in Theology from the Episcopal Divinity School in 1962. Brunett then began working as an Episcopal Minster. From 1966 until 1992, he became a non-parochial minister, working in the areas of civil rights, poverty, community development, housing, and services for the elderly by working for various companies including Northeast Community Organization (NECO), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, American City Corporation and Vantage House. In 1992, he accepted a call to return to parish ministry at St Andrews Church in Glenwood, Maryland, and then retired in 2003. In 1998, he received the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Advanced Studies in Congressional Development from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. His doctoral thesis, “A Seeker Ministry for the Next Generation”, became the inspiration and blueprint of the development of a ministry, Journeys Community, which he started in 2001. The Journeys Community served people who were seeking a spiritual basis for their lives but had not found this in a traditional church. Brunett served the Journeys Community until he and his wife retired to Littleton, Colorado in 2008.
A memorial service was held at Balfour Senior Living in Littleton, Colorado on Thursday March 7, 2024. A memorial service was scheduled to be held at St Andrews Church in Glenwood, Maryland on Sunday, April 14, 2024.