Former Elgin manager ‘Builder Bob’ Brunton dies at 88

Robert L. Brunton, the man who oversaw the development of Elgin’s civic center to help garner himself the nickname “Bob the Builder,” died Saturday in his retirement home in Arizona. He was 88.

Brunton served as Elgin’s city manager from 1962 to 1972, coordinating the clustering of city hall, the appellate court building, the Hemmens Cultural Center, Gail Borden Public Library and the post office.

Brunton’s good friend Jack Shales calls the civic center campus the feather in his cap from his time as city manager, but it wasn’t his only project.

According to Mike Alft in his book “AnElginAlmanac,” Brunton also oversaw creation of a new west side water treatment plant, the Lords Park pool, a new fire station on the west side, a shop and garage for Bluff City Cemetery, Spartan Meadows Golf Course, new buildings for the public works department, a band shell at Wing Park, new tennis courts and a central communications center for the police and fire departments.

Shales, who kept in touch with Brunton long after he left Elgin for other jobs and eventually retired in Arizona, said Brunton’s mind stayed sharp, though his body began to fail him after several strokes.

“The guy was really bright, right up to the last,” Shales said. “He’d have to be ranked as one of the best city managers we had.”

Brunton served overseas in World War II and finished school as a civil engineer with a master’s degree in sociology and psychology and additional coursework in public administration, according to Alft’s Almanac. After Elgin he went on to serve in Fort Collins, Colo., and Phoenix, and he earned the reputation as a nationally respected city manager.

Bob Malm, a director of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce’s Elgin Development Group, worked with Brunton in city hall.

“He was a tremendous human being — a kind, compassionate individual but still a man of great intellect and integrity,” Malm said.

Brunton worked 50 to 60 hours each week while raising his family in Elgin and contributing to his church. Shales said he taught Sunday school classes and continued to give his time to the congregations he joined wherever he lived. Though a fan of many sports, he played tennis recreationally.

While his friends and family remember him as a wonderful person, the people of Elgin can look at his legacy and remember his leadership, Malm said.

“All those values that one would expect of great public servants, he embodied,” Malm said.

A memorial service will be held June 30 at Friendship Village in Tempe, Ariz., where Brunton’s wife, Ruth, still lives