Lyle E. Brumley (May 19, 1939—December 17, 2019)
Lyle from Ottumwa, Iowa started his Grinnell years with his classmates in the fall of 1957. In June 1961 he was awarded the
B.A. degree in Biology. He was an active resident of Cowles Hall and served as a class officer his junior year.
With his great tenor voice, he was a member of the College Choir and the Scarleteers, the male vocal octet (sometimes called the “double barbershop quartet”), which enjoyed singing at events on campus and giving concerts in nearby small towns. He also was a member of a male choral ensemble that went on an Iowa-Illinois-Missouri tour in March 1959. Many remember his great smile and friendly manner.
In the fall of 1959 he called Barbara Treat ’63 and said he had seen her serving food at the Cowles Dining Room and invited her to go to the Cowles house party. She could not go, but instead invited him to go with her to the James Hall party a few
weeks later. Lyle accepted. They had a great time and soon started a serious dating relationship. After she graduated from Grinnell, they were married in August 1963.
After college, Lyle pursued medical education, earning a M.A. degree in anatomy in 1963 from the University of Illinois College of Medicine and afterwards teaching biology at Loyola University in Chicago, 1963-64. He then went to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, obtaining his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1968 while squeezing in time at that institution as an assistant instructor of veterinary medicine.
For 50 years Lyle was a small animal, private practice veterinarian in the Chicago area and his home town of Ottumwa. He also was active in various professional groups, including serving as president of the Illinois Academy of Veterinary Medicine and as chief of staff of the Illinois Animal Welfare League.
Music continued to be important to Lyle and Barbara, who also had been in the Grinnell Choir, as they were longtime members of a church choir. One of the last events Lyle attended was a concert by one of their grandchildren’s high school choir.
Most important for Lyle and Barbara was their family. They have three children: Janet Brumley Abramson, Diane Brumley Marty (Grinnell, 1992), and David Brumley along with sons-in-law Scott Abramson and Kirk Marty (Grinnell, 1990), daughter-in-law Alison Brumley and 12 grandchildren, all of whom survive him.
