Friday, July 24th, 2009 UPDATE: City of Toledo names bike path after Robert Brundage Written by Caitlin McGlade news@toledofreepress.com Around an estimated 600 people packed into the Collingwood Arts Center’s auditorium on July 24 to sing hymns, play melancholy classical pieces and tell stories about Toledo’s activist, environmentalist and musician Robert Brundage. Robert ‘Dr. Bob’ Brundage at the May 20 ‘Song of Toledo’ concert at the Main Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Downtown Toledo. The crowd fell silent to the tones of a harp, a cello, an organ and the TSO string quartet and some friends and family read Bible passages and excerpts from essays by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. To celebrate Brundage’s life, some also shared their own poems. “He…this flower of a man… beckoned me to look closer,” Warren Woodbery read to the crowd in his poem “A Flower that is not a Weed.” “He beckon- ed me to see what he saw from this crack in the sidewalk. He beckoned me to see a city, a neigh- borhood and a cause.” Brundage’s brother, David, told the crowd how Brundage developed his love for nature even as a small child, playing in the dirt in their backyard and climbing ginkgo and cherry trees. Brundage cared for a slew of animals, including parakeets, ham- sters, dogs and even a rat, David Brundage added. Brundage graduated from University of Toledo and lived in Boston until he retired. With an engineering physics degree and Ph.D. in biophysics, Brundage designed medical instruments, researched for a company called Instrumentation Laboratory Inc. and worked as a chemist for the National Bureau of Standards among other professions. He also recorded and edited performances for Harvard University, MIT, New England Conser- vatory and others. He moved to back to his hometown of Toledo to care for his sick father and ended up staying in Toledo because he had made such strong bonds in the community, Brundage said. Some at the memorial service knew “Dr. Bob” as a teacher, an environmentalist, a colleague, a partner in justice or a friend.

“Emerson would have called Bob’s life “well-lived,” said Reverend Lynn Kerr of the First Unitarian Church of Toledo. “He found inspiration and meaning for a great many and he believed every being had worth and dignity. Our congregation stresses working for justice and peace, something that Bob embodied. Politicians at the local and even state level wrote resolutions memorializing Brundage. State Senators passed a resolution to memorialize Brundage and Toledo’s city council members passed a resolution in Brundage’s honor, also dedicating a bike path to him. David Brundage made some of his first memories as a child with his brother Robert biking on the path and running around in Ottawa Park’s expansive grassy spaces and wooded areas. So when Mayor Carty Finkbeiner dedicated the bicycle path that encircles the entire park, friends and family at the dedication ceremony said choosing this site to honor Robert Brundage was very fitting. “For decades we have participated in all the things this park has to offer,” Brundage said. Finkbeiner and other city officials named the path in his honor on July 24, the day of the memorial cere- mony, presenting signs that read “Robert Brundage Bike Trail; Ottawa Park” to be posted along various points in the trail. Brundage rode his bike everywhere, regardless of weather or distance, to avoid polluting with auto- mobile emissions, many friends have said. Ottawa Park, the city’s largest park with the longest paved path in the area, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, a leader of the late 1800’s movement to beautify cities, said Harry Ward, president of the Ottawa-Jermain Park Advisory Board. Olmsted designed major parks in cities across the country, including Central Park, in hopes that natural beauty and well-preserved landscape would draw people to the city and offer a solution to crowded, stress- ful circumstances in downtown areas. Brundage shared Olmested’s philosophy that linked a city’s well-being to the natural world, Ward said. “This is Toledo’s version of Central Park,” said Michael Szuberla, one of Brundage’s friends through Toledo Grows. “It’s the heart and lungs of the city.” Finkbeiner told the crowd that he and other city officials wanted to honor Brundage because of his deep impact on everyone in the city. “Bob was a rare individual,” Finkbeiner said. “Bob, by his example, taught us about love and life.” Brundage died on July 7, at age 66, a little over two weeks after 15-year-old Dailahntae Jemison attack- ed him and robbed him of his bike at the corner of Victoria Place and Collingwood Avenue. “Robert was a sinew of energy and he spread energy and positivity and goodness to all of us and I hope you all will continue to do that in your own special way,” said Audrey Johnson, Executive Director of the Collingwood Arts Center.

GUEST COLUMN Remembering Robert Brundage By Edward Slack SPECIAL TO TOLEDO FREE PRESS July 26, 2009 Robert Brundage was a man of great knowledge, great wit, great heart and was always ready to serve. He was also my friend.    Robert died as the result of a senseless assault, but he would have exercised compassion for the young man who assaulted him.    I first met Robert when he became involved with our grassroots organization, the Toledo History Museum, Inc., (THM). He served as a trustee, chairing the activities and programs committee.    He knew so many individuals who could present a program on Toledo’s history at our quarterly general membership meetings, and the enormity of his citywide contacts was astonishing. Robert also helped me with my committee and others. He was keenly intuitive, fascinated with Toledo’s history and shared his views candidly, often seeing options that eluded us. He was fully aware of our circumstances and took every opportunity to tell people about us. He always encouraged people to become involved and often passed out our brochures.    He was always prepared to participate in our public events. It was common knowledge that he was involved in numerous civic organizations, and he would gladly tell you about them when asked.   What impressed me most was Robert’s exquisite intelligence, humility and robust sense of humor. We never knew him as “Dr. Bob,” just Robert.

He never called attention to himself except by showing up at an event occasionally dressed in some bizarre combination of apparel that prompted you to ask who or what he represented.    Then he had you. At our Old West End Festival earlier this year, he appeared in his Johnny Ginkoseed  outfit.      Without fail, visitors would take one look and break out laughing or wore puzzled looks, wondering if he was worth approaching, but they would soon break down and learn about his portrayal.    I will find it difficult to succeed my friend, whom I fondly remember tying up his bike to a post with a ready smile, most likely having come from a previous meeting.    His decrepit bicycle was a thing of wonder, that basket crammed with all sorts of notebooks and papers. At a moment’s notice, he would begin telling you about something he had just learned or ask if you were aware of some brand-new event.    His curiosity was endless and he absorbed information like a sponge. His energy was boundless and infectious, and he was always ready to share a bit of civic news, grabbing that worn notebook stuffed in a shirt pocket. I will miss his modest manner and ready wit. Thank you, Robert.