Harold Bennett “HB” Brumbaugh was born on May 23, 1911, in Woodbury, Beford County, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Alvah and Nancy Brumbaugh, and distant kin of the Juniata founding Brumbaugh family. He grew up with two brothers and one sister. Brumbaugh graduated from Altoona High School in 1929 and then enrolled in Juniata College. He graduated from Juniata College in 1933. After graduating, Brumbaugh taught at Woodbury High School in Pennsylvania, from 1933 until 1935. After that, he moved on to being the principal of New Paris – Napier High School from 1935 to 1936. In 1936, he became the assistant to President Charles C. Ellis and then later to President Calvert C. Ellis. Then in 1939, he became the Head of Alumni until 1962. Being in charge of Alumni was his proudest accomplishment. At one point, he had managed to convince over 50% of alumni to donate to the college.
In 1963, he was named Vice President for Development and then became the first curator of the Juniata College Museum. In 1966, he organized the first Alumni tour abroad. Throughout the next years, he organized many alumni tours to Europe. From 1968 to 1970, he served as the president of the Mid-Atlantic American Alumni Council. Also, in 1968, he was named Vice President for College Relations. In 1975, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Juniata College.
To many, HB was a very gregarious, extroverted person. He liked kids a lot, and everyone knew and liked him. From when he came back to campus in 1936 until his death in 2000, he was a confidant of every president. Throughout much of his life, many people tried to get him to marry or at least date, but he refused and stayed a lifelong bachelor, putting his focus on the college. He did a lot of entertaining for the college, mainly meeting with alumni and students. President Calvert Ellis often brought him along to meet with potential donors for funding for the college, including one time when they traveled to Ohio and convinced Leon A. Beeghly to donate money to build the library.
During the Second World War, he sent messages to members of the Juniata community who were fighting overseas. He even lived at the college from approximately 1936 until 1998. Originally, he lived in an apartment on the left side of the Cloister Arch. Later, he moved to an apartment built for him in Tussey and Terrence. This apartment is now the Community Advisors’. He would entertain guests in both locations, along with his assistant, Barbara Row would plan the parties, cook, and cater, until the college required all events to be catered through the dining services. He never cooked for himself; instead, he ate all meals at the dining hall.
HB was the first museum curator of the Juniata College Museum, beginning in 1963. It was on the top floor of the library until 1998, when the current Juniata College Museum of Art was redone. It was very messy. One of the exhibits revolved around an art professor named Sally McBride, who drew pictures of each of the faculty when they entered the Founders’ Club, which is when a professor teaches for longer than ten years at the school. He kept them and put them on display. Many of the early exhibits revolved around things related to the college, and not items that would be put into a museum today. Since he had traveled so much with alumni and to get donations to the college, he would pick up souvenirs from the places he went. After he left the college, he gave some of the stuff to friends, and some of the stuff was donated to the college for the museum.
HB was also an active member of the Stone Church of the Brethren in Huntingdon and attended every single annual conference. Typically, he went to talk to alumni and look for possible students. He also served as president of the Middle District Men's Work Council of the Church of the Brethren and as former chairman Commission on the Ministry, Church of the Brethren. He also engaged in other parts of the greater Huntingdon community, including as president of the Rotary Club of Huntingdon from 1951 to 1952; director of the Huntingdon County United Fund, a trustee of the Huntingdon County Library, a member of the Huntingdon County Historical Society, a board member of Pennsylvania State Council of Churches, the president of the Huntingdon County Tourist Promotion Agency, and a member of the Pennsylvania Folklore Society.
Because of his dedication to the college, the students, and his relationships with alumni, he was often called “Mr. Juniata.” The college created an alumni service award in his honor, which recognizes alumni who have provided exceptional service and given time to the school. The college also named the alumni house on Mifflin Street in his honor. After There were also two books published and dedicated to him.. The first was Nancy Siegel’s Juniata College: Uncommon Visions of Juniata's Past (2000), which was dedicated to him because he had provided the author with many pictures and stories. The other book, Juniata College: Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty, written by Earl C. Kaylor Jr, was dedicated in his memory; “Mr. Juniata to generations of alumni.”
He retired in 1976 from the college. From the years 1979 to 1987, he was the president of the Weimer Oller Travel Agency Inc, and then a consultant to Gateway Travel. Also, during this time, he served as a member of the Juniata College Board of Trustees from the years 1979 to 1994. After retiring from the board, he was named Trustee Emeritus. After this, he retired permanently to live at Westminster Woods in Huntingdon and was one of the first people to move there. He died at the age eighty-eight, on January 18th, 2000, at the Altoona hospital. His funeral was held at the Stone Church in Huntingdon, and there was a special memorial service held during the alumni week of the same year.
Zachary Bloom '24
Bibliography
Altoona Mirror, January 21, 2000, Pg. 7, Altoona, Pennsylvania, US https://newspaperarchive.com/altoona-mirror-jan-21-2000-p-7/
Cherry, Betty Ann (Retired Juniata College professor) in discussion with the author, February 11, 2023.
“Honorary Degree Recipients.” Juniata College. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.juniata.edu/offices/president/honorary-degree-recipients.php.
Huntingdon Daily News, June 27, 1991,Pg. 8, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, US https://newspaperarchive.com/huntingdon-daily-news-jun-27-1991-p-8/
Huntingdon Daily News, March 28, 2000,Pg. 3, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, US
https:// newspaperarchive.com/huntingdon-daily-news -mar- 28 -2000-p-3/
Kaylor Jr, Earl C. Juniata College: Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty: The History of an Independent College in Pennsylvania Founded by the Brethren 1876-2001. Huntington, PA: Published by Juniata College, 2001.
Millich, Patty. “US Archives Obituary: Brumbaugh, Harold .” USGENWEB archives - census wills deeds genealogy, 2005.http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/somerset/obits/b7/brumbaugh-harold-b.txt.
“Past Members of Juniata Alumni Council.” Juniata College. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.juniata.edu/alumni/council/past-members.php.
Siegel, Nancy. Juniata College: Uncommon Visions of Juniata's Past, 2000.