James Walter Brush

James Walter Brush, 87, of Columbia, MO peacefully passed away at his home on May 4th, 2026, surrounded by his wife and children. Jim was born on June 6th 1938 to Edward Brush and Lee (Overton) Brush in Mercer County, MO. Jim attended High School in Princeton, MO and it was there that he met his beautiful bride, Suzanne Wilcox. Jim and Suzanne were high school sweethearts and after being crowned “Barnwarming Queen and King”, they were married on June 22nd, 1957. Over the next several years, they welcomed their four children, Barbara, Dan, Rebecca, and Steve. In 1965, Jim graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri. He was licensed as a Professional Land Surveyor and Professional Engineer and in 1977 founded “Brush & Associates Land Surveying and Engineering” in Columbia, MO which he owned and operated until retiring in 2005. Jim was well known and respected throughout mid Missouri for his upstanding character and ability to always light up a room as he entered.

Jim loved a good challenge and preferred camping and “roughing it” to any other vacation. He and Suzanne enjoyed taking their family to the boundary waters for a vacation of primitive camping, fishing, and canoeing. These trips were a source of fond and exciting memories for those who went, and his canoe paddles are proudly displayed in his home. Jim was a proficient whistler and could be easily found no matter where he was, just by listening for his signature tunes. As a dad, Jim always loved having a good time with his family. Games and “popcorn & pepsi” nights were looked forward to every Friday night. Warm evenings called for badminton and croquet matches in the backyard, and Jim managed to always make the games fun, but educational. Often during a game of croquet, Jim would smack the ball so hard he’d “send it” across the yard. He’d then say “Oh, I sure am sorry… guess I’ll see you later at the finish line!” 

Most of all, Jim loved the Lord and served as a deacon and elder in the church for many years.  Jim often led communion at church and was always ready to help anyone that he met who had a need. He also volunteered his time and talents to help with the kids. He served as a Sunday school teacher, and baited hundreds of fish hooks for young aspiring fishermen and women at vacation bible school and church camps over the years. Jim and Suzanne were highly involved with the youth programs at Columbia Christian Church and developed a puppet ministry which performed at nursing homes around Columbia, MO. Always up for a challenge, Jim even found a way to get the puppet team on a float for the holiday parade and drove the puppet show through downtown Columbia for the parade for many years.

Much of Jim’s time in retirement was spent immersing himself in various hobbies and enjoying time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Jim could fix almost anything, and helped his family and friends with a countless number of home improvement projects. He enjoyed wood-working and blessed his family members with benches, tables, chairs, shelves and various other items to use around the house. He enjoyed restoring caned chairs and bringing life back into old items. Jim spent a good amount of each day working in his garden, growing grapes for grape juice, strawberries to go on top of ice cream, and a showstopping variety of flowers. Jim also enjoyed photography, capturing the things and people he loved the most on camera. In 2009, Jim, always up for a challenge, opened up “Grandpa’s Driving School” and taught several of his grandkids how to drive. Driving lessons would always end with a lesson on how to maneuver in a drive-thru line and a hot fudge sundae. He and Suzanne enjoyed making regular trips to Ikea for Swedish meatballs and were well known at every local Culver’s restaurant as VIP customers. Jim loved to experiment in the kitchen and was always looking for new and fun recipes to try out. He made sure that his grandchildren all knew the correct way to make a pie crust or how to make merengue “just right”.

What Jim enjoyed the most was being out in nature with his family. An avid outdoorsman, Jim served as a scout master for over 20 years. He enjoyed taking his boat out on the Missouri river to fish and float along with his kids and grandchildren. In more recent years, Jim fulfilled a long term dream by starting a small herd of goats. Jim developed a love for German Shepherd dogs and spent much of his time training Sadie, then Heidi, and lastly, Midnight. Each of them was dubbed  “Such a good dog, you’re the best dog we’ve got”. Jim enjoyed playing games with his kids and grandkids and notoriously gave each board game piece their own unique name and personality. It was never a dull moment with Jim and he enjoyed joking around and making others smile and laugh.

Jim is survived by his wife of 68 years, Suzanne (Wilcox) Brush. He is also survived by his four children, Barbara Verbeke (Tim), Dan Brush (Nancy), Rebecca Schweikert (Kevin), and Dr Steve Brush (Kim). Jim is also survived by his 26 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and by his brothers Ross and Charles Brush (Ann) . He was preceded in death by his parents Edward and Lee Brush, his step father C.H. Weber, and his brother Lewis Brush.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to, My Life Clinic 802 N. Providence Road Suite 2, Columbia Mo. 65202 or Show-me Christian youth Home P.O. Box 6 La Monte Mo. 65337

A Memorial Visitation will be on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., with the Celebration of Life Service immediately following at 3:00 p.m., at Bach-Yager Funeral Chapel. 

 Bach-Yager Funeral Chapel is honored to serve the Brush Family.

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