Richard Bruehert: Joy From
Responsibilities
Richard
Bruehert was always the serious and responsible one of
his four brothers. He got a paper route when he was young
and was the manager of the local McDonald's by 19. Later,
after he married Jo Anne White, became a father and was
working as vice president for technology at Marsh &
McLennan, he would rise early on weekends and do the
family grocery shopping. When his father died in November
2000, he played a major role in caring for his
mother.
Such responsibilities were never onerous for him.
Whether weeding his tomato patch or shoveling snow in the
driveway, he usually had one of his two daughters --
Christina, 6, and Danielle, 2 -- right beside him.
Mr. Bruehert, 38, was also always eager to face a
challenge. In the 1970's, he bought a computer long
before the PC craze and taught himself computer games.
Two years ago, he learned to fly a single-engine plane,
but quit when he decided it kept him away from his
children too much. Last summer, he took sailing lessons
in Virginia, bought a boat and sailed it across Long
Island Sound. "He bought it so the family could spend
more time together," Mrs. Bruehert said.
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