Dr. Wesley "Wes" L. Brun, of the Fox Run Senior Community, Novi, formerly of Farmington Hills, unexpectedly entered eternal life at home on Tuesday morning, January 26, 2021. He was 80 years old.

Wes was born October 13, 1940, in Burlington, Iowa to the late George Kenneth Brun and Velma Ruth (Duttweiler) Brun.  As a young boy, he lived with his mother and sister Cynthia in the house his grandfather had built for the family while his father was serving in the Navy during WWII. After his father returned stateside, he discerned a call to ministry and moved the family to St. Louis to pursue his certification for ministry. Thus, Wes grew up in Methodist parsonages and was nurtured by the church. He graduated from Warrenton High School in Warrenton, Missouri in 1958, and attended Central Methodist College in Fayette, Missouri, graduating in 1962. Like his father before him, Wes discerned a call to ministry that led him to St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri, graduating in 1965 with his Master's of Divinity Degree. He was ordained a deacon and then an elder in the Missouri East Conference of the United Methodist Church, and went on to earn a Master's of Sacred Theology from Yale Divinity School in 1966. He served the Monroe City Methodist Church in the late sixties, and then Grace UMC in Saint Louis, Missouri until 1974. While at Grace, Wes honed his call to pastoral counseling and earned his Doctor of Ministry from Eden Theological Seminary in Saint Louis. He served as a pastoral counselor at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois from 1974 to 1986 and was active at Christ United Methodist Church in Deerfield, Illinois.

In 1986, Wes was tapped by the clergy association in the Bloomfield/Farmington Hills, Michigan area to serve as the first and founding executive director of a pastoral counseling center in the community. The center's first offices were in Knox House at the First Presbyterian Church of Farmington, followed in 1988 by a branch office at Embury United Methodist Church in Birmingham. As the organization began to grow, Wes' initiatives enabled the move to the current main offices at Nardin Park United Methodist Church in Farmington Hills, and led the organization to achieve accreditation from the Samaritan Institute and the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.  When Wes retired from the Samaritan Counseling Center of Southeastern Michigan in 2006, he had grown the staff to 14 counselors and several interns, offering some five thousand counseling hours annually. Pastoral Counseling and Pastoral Care Specialist Training programs had been developed; Preparation for Marriage Programs, Clergy Seminars, Assessment and Testing, and other educational services initiated. An entire generation of United Methodist Clergy in Michigan all received the interpretation of the psychological testing from Wes.

For several years, Wes maintained his clergy membership in the Missouri East Conference of the United Methodist Church even though he was serving in Michigan. He transferred his membership to the Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church when his daughter was ordained into the UMC in the Michigan Conference in 1999.

After his retirement, Wes got busier instead of sitting back to enjoy his later years. He served as the director of the Stephen's Ministry pastoral care program at Nardin Park United Methodist Church for more than a decade, and continue to devote his gifts and skills to the church he loved through involvement in both district and conference boards of ordained ministry, helping new pastors understand and grow in emotional intelligence and pastoral care. He also taught pastoral care classes for the Michigan Area of the UMC local pastor's school for nearly 20 years. He was active in the work of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, particularly devoted to the work of peace-making, racial equality, interfaith dialogue, and leading the church to be more inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community.

At his own beloved home church at Nardin Park UMC, Wes co-led Men's Bible Study every Saturday morning for more than 30 years, facilitated the Movie-goers study and the chronic pain support group, and regularly taught short-term classes on a wide variety of topics, always employing his humor and love for comics and jokes to entertain and teach at the same time. Wes had a big heart for people who were suffering or in emotional turmoil, and put his heart into the work of building God's Kingdom in the world.

Wes married Beverly (Barker) on August 5, 1972, at Grace United Methodist Church, St. Louis, MO. Sadly, Beverly preceded Wes in death on October 26, 2016.

Wes was the devoted father of Scott (Tere), Todd (Cara King), Rev. Amy (Brad) Terhune, and David; cherished (and fun-loving, silly) grandfather of Stephanie (fiancé Thomas Lundborg) England, Chandler Brun, Ryan Brun, Catharine Terhune, Isabelle Terhune, and Isabel Briscoe-Brun; dear brother of Cynthia Arnold; and beloved by many in-laws, nieces, nephews, and friends.

Visitation for Dr. Brun will take place Friday, June 18th, from 3-8 pm, at the funeral home.

A memorial service is planned for 1 pm Saturday, June 19th, at Nardin Park United Methodist Church.

Reservations are required to attend this service.  Please click here to make your reservation.  This service will be live-streamed and available to view on the church YouTube channel.  Cookies and lemonade will be served on the front lawn following the service.

In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions are suggested to Nardin Park United Methodist Church or Samaritan Counseling Center of Southeastern Michigan .