Bette Brunsting, a 1956 Central graduate, served 34 years as dean and faculty member.
Bette Brunsting, associate professor emerita of communication at Central College, died Friday evening at Hospice of Pella Comfort House. Brunsting, a 1956 Central graduate, served 34 years as dean and faculty member after returning to Central in 1964.
At Central, Brunsting was known for her rigorous public speaking classes, vivid personality and charge to students: “go forth and do great things.” According to Harry Smith ’73, former student and NBC correspondent, “Bette was ‘old school’ in the best possible way. She set high standards for her students. To not achieve those standards was unacceptable.”
Brunsting grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa with three sisters who also attended Central: Evelyn Kuyk ’47, Joyce Vander Well ’50 and Lucille Nordhoff. Brunsting’s father was fiercely committed to his daughters’ education, even though friends ridiculed him. “People would say to him, ‘Why waste all this money on girls? Don’t you know they’re just going to college to find husbands?’” said Brunsting in a 1998 campus interview.
Brunsting went on to spend nearly all her life in higher education. After graduating from Central, she became a high school speech teacher in Waverly. She continued to teach in Barrington, Ill., while completing a master’s degree from Northwestern University. Then Brunsting returned to Central for the rest of her memorable career.
”Central was her community and her life. It was the solar system that she orbited for most of her life,” said Brunsting’s nephew Steve Mathonnet-Vander Well, pastor of Second Reformed Church in Pella. “She was incredibly grateful always for what she considered the gift of a lifetime, getting to come back to Central.”
Besides her work with students, Brunsting served on the college advisory board, as well the board of trustees as faculty representative. She received the David Crichton Memorial Award in 1997 and the Alumni Stewardship and Service Award in 1998. In 2001, she was presented the Iowa Communication Association Citation Award, given “to a recipient that has consistently demonstrated exceptional service to the communication and/or performing arts in Iowa over an extended period of time.” It’s the organization’s highest award.
Upon her retirement, associate professor of communication studies Dennis Doyle told Central’s student newspaper, “One doesn’t ‘replace’ Bette Brunsting — one simply tries to get along without her. I regard Miss B as a master teacher and a Central College legend.”
Central’s Brunsting Fireside Lounge in Graham Conference Center is named for Bette Brunsting, associate professor emerita of communication.
Brunsting is honored on campus with Central’s Brunsting Fireside Lounge in Graham Conference Center. In addition, the Bette Brunsting Student Project Fund provides for student-faculty collaborative research projects, cultural travel and professional meetings. According Smith, who helped establish the fund, Brunsting insisted that any funds used in her honor emphasize student-faculty relationships — “the very bedrock of what makes Central great.”
Brunsting is survived by one sister, Lucille, as well as 13 nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 28 at Second Reformed Church in Pella.
