Services for Donald Francis Brugmann, 89, will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, at Water's Edge Bible Church , 209 S. Oakwood (one block south of Washington Street), West Chicago. Interment will follow in Glen Oak Cemetery, West Chicago. Visitation will be at the church from 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, and from 9 a.m. until the time of services on Wednesday.

Born April 19, 1928, in Denver, Colorado, the son of Frank and Hazel Brugmann, Don died Saturday, March 3, 2018, at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, Illinois. He lived his first 14 years mostly in small towns in eastern Colorado, primarily in Arriba, a town with a population of less than 300. His high school years were spent in Greeley, Colorado. After graduation he enlisted in the Army, and served at a number of sites in the U.S., and in Okinawa.

After his discharge he initially enrolled in Rider Business College. However, about the same time felt called to Christian ministry. He then attended Bob Jones University, and later received a B.A. from Roosevelt University in Chicago. This was followed by graduation from Northern Baptist Seminary with a Master of Theology. He later earned a Doctorate of Missiology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. During his college and seminary years he served as a student pastor in several churches in the Chicago area.

It was also during college and seminary years that he worked in the mail room of Greater Europe Mission, where he met his future wife, Mary Sullivan. It was during these years that he felt his life should be spent in foreign missions. After graduation he became Candidate and Deputation Secretary for Greater Europe Mission, for 14 years and then Executive Director for 19 years.

During retirement years he made many trips to Eastern European countries that had been liberated after the fall of the Soviet Union. Early in this ministry he was involved in the founding of the Zaporozhye Bible College in Ukraine.

He was active at the West Chicago Bible Church (now Water's Edge Bible Church) from 1961 until the decline of his health in recent years, and was named elder emeritus.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary, in 2004. He is survived by three children, Sharon Finlon, married to Michael, Stephen Brugmann and Sheree Brugmann, all three from West Chicago, and grandchildren Aurica and Gyula Finlon. He is also survived by his sister, Marjorie Hagerman of Peoria, Arizona.

Memorial gifts may be directed to Greater Europe Mission for the Zaporozhye Bible College and Seminary in Ukraine, Water's Edge Bible Church , or Rimland Services .