ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Robert Sterling Brunk passed away on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at age 84. He died, surrounded by loved ones, from complications associated with multiple sclerosis. Bob was a person who approached life with determination, and his battle with MS was no different.
Bob was born on April 14, 1942, in Chicago, into a Mennonite family. He grew up in Lombard, Ill., and graduated from Goshen College, where he met his wife, Jan. He earned his master’s degree in community organization from the University of Michigan and attended Princeton Theological Seminary. The couple moved to Western North Carolina so he could take a job with the Office of Economic Opportunity to promote civil rights.
He lived in the Asheville area for almost 60 years, and it is difficult to accurately convey the Venn diagram of professional and artistic pursuits that filled those years. He began as a professor at UNC-A. He was a sculptor, a collector, a social anthropologist, a woodworker and a farmer. He worked as an antique dealer, community organizer, auctioneer, and author. Bob was passionate about the material and cultural history of Western North Carolina. In the early 1970s, he and Jan built by hand a stone and wood A-frame house on a remote farm at the head of Sugar Creek Road in Barnardsville, N.C. There, for a time, he and his family pursued a self-reliant life as he founded Sugar Creek Wood Designs and became a successful artist. He patented a traveling Amish-style cradle that is part of the Smithsonian Museum collection in Washington, DC, and he also began singing shape-note music, a vibrant, communal, participatory music tradition deeply rooted in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
In 1983, Bob founded Brunk Auctions, which became a regional powerhouse. After several years as a one-man operation, he hired his first full-time employee in 1987. He retired in 2010. The company now has 30 full-time staff, conducts at least 30 annual auctions and works with buyers and sellers from around the world. Longtime employees and clients fondly remember Bob’s penchant for telling stories from the auction podium. The anthropology professor was still there.
Bob loved storytelling of all forms and was a noted author. Most recently, he published A Question of Value, Stories from the Life of an Auctioneer (2024). A reflection on the meaning of value, this collection of short stories has received many accolades. A follow-up memoir is forthcoming.
His work has appeared in The Virginia Quarterly Review, The Iowa Review, Ninth Letter, The Michigan Quarterly Review, The Gettysburg Review, Witness, Chautauqua, The North Dakota Quarterly, Salt Hill and other publications. He edited two volumes titled May We All Remember Well: A Journal of the History and Cultures of Western North Carolina. His essays were selected as “Notable Essays” for The Best American Essays in 2014 and 2015.
Bob is survived by his brother, Stan Brunk; his former wife, Jan Brunk; his daughter, Ingrid (David Nelson) Brunk, a law professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville; his son, Andrew (Lauren) Brunk, who now owns Brunk Auctions; and six grandchildren: Silas, Emma, Eva, Logan, Ellis and Stella.
In life he was a generous supporter of numerous humanitarian, educational and environmental causes. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to Helpmate in Asheville, Goshen College in Indiana or a charity of one’s choice.
A memorial service will be announced at a future date.
