Whether it’s your first time walking into Central Church or you’ve been coming many years chances are that you will be shaking hands with and be warmly greeted by Cecil Brunson.
Cecil and his wife, Jean, have been long time active members of Central Church. While Jean serves on staff in the counseling department, you will find Cecil, when he is not flying, singing in the choir at the 9:25 service, participating in special events going on at the church, taking on leadership responsibilities in his Sunday School Class, and serving as an elder of the church.
Yes I did say when Cecil isn’t flying. Cecil is a DC10 Captain at Fed-Ex and has been flying with Fed-Ex for the past twenty years. Though his mandatory retirement as Captain is coming up this December, Cecil plans on staying on at Fed-Ex another year and a half in another position.
Cecil was born in December of 1947 and married his wife Jean in June of 1970 and has been happily married for the past 37 years.
 Though they have been happily married, life wasn’t always so good to them. Cecil’s flying career started early when he flew an F4E as a lieutenant in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. After flying 160 successful missions, on October 12, 1972, flying his 161st mission, he was shot down in North Vietnam and spent the next 6 months as a POW. Cecil and Jean survived this tragic ordeal because of their strong faith in God and by never giving up hope. God had shown Himself faithful to them and Cecil was released March 29,1973 and the two of them were reunited. Cecil spent the next nine months convalescing and in March of 1980 he was released from the Air Force as a lieutenant Colonel with an honorable discharge.
While some may have found this experience difficult to deal with and may have become bitter and angry with God, Cecil’s response to his experience was, “I’ve gained a deeper faith in God and a greater love for America.”
Cecil is a man who wears many titles: husband, father, pilot, and elder, and these titles carry a great deal of responsibility. But responsibility is not an unfamiliar word for Cecil and he takes extra care to fulfill all of his responsibilities.
When I asked Cecil how he manages to deal with all of the responsibilities he has, he said, “If you put God first and foremost in your life, He’ll work out all of the details.”
Cecil faces a lot of challenges in his life and he takes them on with full force. He plans his time carefully and makes sure to make time for all of his responsibilities. He will be the first one to admit that there are some difficult decisions that he has to make. There are times when his family wants him to do things with them and he has to say no to them. There are also times that he wants to be at an elder’s meeting but his work schedule won’t permit it or when he has to miss a Sunday Service because he is flying. However, he tries to schedule his work around the elder meetings because he feels a heavy burden to attend as many meetings as he can.
Serving as an elder is challenging because there are times when he is forced to make difficult decisions. When I asked him how he deals with that he said that he does a lot of praying over the decision and ultimately decides on what will benefit the Church as a whole and bring glory to God.
Cecil, Jean, their son Kevin, and daughter-in-law Angela
The
Brunson's daughter, Angela
Cecil’s marriage to Jean for 37 years says a lot about the kind of husband he is. With Cecil’s schedule as busy as it is and Jean’s busy schedule doing counseling, I asked Jean how she deals with her husband being away from home so often. Jean said that often times their schedules conflict so they make the most of the time they have together. The two of them make it a point to eat meals together and also to schedule time for just the two of them. When I asked Cecil how he makes his marriage work, he laughs and says jokingly, “With Jean being a counselor, I’ve had 37 years of good counseling.”
Cecil is a man who has flown all around the world and has seen many interesting and fun places. When I asked him where is favorite place is he said, “At home with my family and friends.”
With as busy as Cecil is, I just had to know what could he possibly do for relaxation and what hobbies he was interested in. Surprisingly he said what he enjoys most is working in his own backyard. Cecil calls his backyard his own little “Garden of Eden” and when life’s pressures get to weighing him down and he needs a little time alone with God, he likes to go out into his backyard and pull weeds and trim the shrubbery and plant flowers and just spend a little time alone with his Savior.
I have known Cecil Brunson for the past seven years and spent a lot of time with him in small groups, seeking his advise, going out to lunch and just kicking back in his recreation room watching a football game and it is a privilege and an honor for me to be able to call him my friend.
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