In memory of Bruns

FORT RECOVERY — Joe Bruns gave a lot to his community over the past three decades.

During his final three years, the community gave that support right back to him and his family as he battled cancer.

Now the Bruns family and the rest of the community have come together again to cement his memory for future generations.

A little less than a year after Joe Bruns died from cancer, work on a putting green at Fort Recovery Middle School wrapped up on Aug. 1 by Natures Green Nursery of Fort Recovery.

The project, which included a green with six holes and a mini bunker located next to the right field foul line fence of the football field with the working name of Joe Bruns Memorial Putting Green, received glowing reviews from Denise Bruns (Joe’s wife), Fort Recovery High School athletics director Aimee Pottkotter and FRHS girls golf coach Jeff Vaughn, Joe Bruns’ childhood friend and assistant coach.

“I’m impressed by it,” Denise said. “It’s more than I expected. Nature’s Green did a wonderful job.

“I like how it’s kind of a building block to the next step of getting a shelter out here, and the safety grant will help with the addition of a sidewalk. It continues the love of golf and gets more practice out here.”

While the green itself is ready to be used, there are future plans to build a shelter house that could be utilized by both the green and the baseball field as well as a sidewalk from Sharpsburg Road that connects to the sidewalk at the LeFevre Family Baseball and Softball Complex.

The idea for the project began last year after Joe’s death in late August. Several of his former players and their families approached Vaughn expressing interest in doing something in his memory.

When the idea of the putting green came up, Vaughn talked to Denise, who in turn went to Fort Recovery Local Schools superintendent Tony Stahl with the idea and an initial donation to get the project started.

After the Bruns family’s donation jump-started the project, the rest of the funding quickly got taken care of by FRHS alumni golfers, families of current golfers, Fort Recovery Community Club and other donors organized by the Fort Recovery athletic boosters. Work on the green began in mid July and began wrapping up in early August.

“I’m just ecstatic,” said Pottkotter. “When the Bruns family came to us with the idea, they made a huge donation of their own. Then we talked about it at a booster meeting and some more people chipped money in and boom the project was done.

“It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. I had Mr. Bruns as a teacher and got to work with him a bit in my first year and this project just symbolizes everything that he is to this community.”

While Joe did a lot for the community as a high school math teacher and coach, Denise saw the opportunity as another way to give back for the support the Bruns family received during his final years.

“Joe battled cancer for the last three years of his life,” Denise said. “The community rallied and gave us so much hope and did so much for us. This is a way to give back to them.”

The location of the green holds meaning too.

In 2013, Joe revived the girls golf program alongside Vaughn. At the time, the Indians’ home course was Mercer County Elks, which several other teams in the Midwest Athletic Conference also utilize, making it difficult to schedule practice time.

Many times, Joe opted to hold practice in the field in front of the middle school, setting up a makeshift driving range with targets.

“This is kind of where it all started,” Vaughn said. “At that time, a majority of them didn’t drive, so it was easier for them to get over here after school for practice.

“After they decided on the location, I thought, ‘That’s perfect, because I have a bunch of freshmen that can’t drive.’ 

“So we’re kind of back where we started.”

Denise and Joe’s daughter Jayln both expressed that it meant a lot to see the community support the idea of the memorial and help make it a reality so quickly.

“It’s very humbling and an honor,” Denise said. “I really appreciate the community that we live in.”