Bruce’s Obituary Funeral services for Bruce Jones Brumfield, Sr., will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, February 11 at Inverness United Methodist Church. Interment will follow in the Hickory Grove Cemetery in Inverness under the direction of Burton Funeral Home. Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 10 in the Community Bank lobby in Indianola, Mississippi located at 147 Hwy.
82 East. Bruce Brumfield, 80, died Thursday, February 7 at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson following a brief illness. He was born in Greenville on May 12, 1938.
A graduate of Inverness High School, Brumfield distinguished himself at Mississippi State University while earning a degree in Animal Science in 1960. He was a faithful member of First United Methodist Church of Inverness and a past president of the Inverness Rotary Club. He was a partner in Brumfield Plantation and FTB Farms in Inverness.
His business acumen, wisdom, and unquestioned expertise in commodities led him to earn a number of significant honors in the agri-business field, including being named 1999’s Progressive Farmer Magazine’s Mississippi Man of the Year for Agriculture. Bruce enjoyed a long and distinguished career, first as a director of People’s Bank of Indianola, later as a director and chairman of the board of Community Bank in Indianola, and finally as a member of the board of directors of Community Bancshares of Mississippi, Inc., from which he retired in March 2018. He rose to the pinnacles of leadership and service in his profession, including service as president of the National Cotton Council, the Delta Council, and the Mississippi Cattlemen’s Association.
He also contributed service on the boards of directors of Bell Inc., Duncan Gin Inc., Delta Western Inc., Delta Pride Processors, and Delta Industries Inc. Bruce was honored with the Henry S. Baker Distinguished Service Award by the National Cotton Council, among a plethora of additional public recognitions of his unselfish service to his business colleagues, his community, and his state and nation. Bruce was faithful in supporting his alma mater, including the major contributions made by his family in honor of Bruce and Margaret Harris in establishing the Strategic Finance Laboratory at Mississippi State University’s College of Business in McCool Hall that provides students a working, state-of-the-art “trading room” in which they can learn how to buy and sell commodities and trade on the Stock Exchange. Brumfield’s involvement with the project attracted matching funds from Community Bancshares and Staplcotn.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 53 years, Margaret Harris Swayze Brumfield, and by his parents, Frank Thomson Brumfield and Virginia Jones Brumfield. Bruce is survived by four sons: Bruce J. (Jay) Brumfield, Jr. and his wife Shanon of Ridgeland, MS. ; Harris Clayton Brumfield and his wife Terry of Chicago, IL; Frank Swayze Brumfield and his wife Mary Frances of Chicago, IL; and Hardy Thomson Brumfield and his wife Amy of Atlanta, GA.
He also is survived by grandchildren, Parker Brumfield (Haley), Ally Brumfield, Bella Brumfield, Alec Brumfield, Meredith Brumfield, Bizzy Brumfield, Swayze Brumfield, Blake Brumfield, Lucy Brumfield, Brooke Brumfield, Thomson Brumfield and J.D. Brumfield; and great grandchildren, Sellers Brumfield and Stella Brumfield. Other survivors include his sisters, Mrs. Fannie Brumfield Elliott and Mrs. Maggie Brumfield Parker. Pallbearers include Parker Brumfield, Swayze Brumfield, Blake Brumfield, Thomson Brumfield, J.D. Brumfield, Ed Parker, Frank Parker, Will Parker, Bo Elliot, Brum Elliot, and Jerry Fitts.
In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests memorial gifts to First United Methodist Church of Inverness, 805 Fifth Street, Inverness, MS 38753 or to the Brumfield-Swayze Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762 (msufoundation.com). The family also would like to extend a very special thanks to Shirley Walker, Enriecka Boldien and Jerry Fitts for all of their love and support.
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