Jim Brammer, 1942 – 2009
James Emmett Brammer was born March 21, 1942 in Wichita and died August 10, 2009 in Littleton, Colorado.
Jim graduated from Wichita High School East in the spring of 1960 and enrolled at Wichita State University in the following fall. He graduated from Georgetown Law School in the Washington D.C. area in 1970. After receiving his law degree, he served in the Army as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corp. Following his service in the Army, he was a lawyer in Washington D.C., Houston and Denver.
A Wichita Eagle photo of Jim in 1961 shows him working on a display of Hopi Indian Art at the City Library. According to the article, he was preparing a lecture to the Boy Scouts Explorer Post at College Hill Methodist Church on the Hopi culture during the 1500 years that the tribe lived on the high rock mesas of the Southwestern U.S. A member of the Explorer Post, Jim studied Indian culture with his fellow Explorers during the winters and traveled to the Southwest during the summers to see first-hand the areas and artifacts they had studied. The Post also sponsored an Indian Dance Club that was noted for the authenticity of its costumes and dances. Summer expeditions to the Southwest included attendance at the Inter-tribal Ceremonials at Gallup, NM. The Post leaders were Mr. and Mrs. Ward Vickery, parents of Kent Vickery, ’60, like his parents an enthusiastic collector of Southwest Indian art. Kent worked as an Anthropology professor who led excavations of Indian mounds in Ohio.
Jim Brammer participated in high school escapades chronicled by Dan Kinney in these two stories: “Breckenridge Bound” and “The Return of Santa.“
Editor’s Note: We have been unable to locate an obituary for Jim Brammer. We would much appreciate your adding information about Jim either as a comment to this post or by sending the information to one of our editors.
Reading about Jim Brammer’s interest in Hopi culture makes me wish I had been smart enough to ask about his observations of the Southwest tribes. I did talk to Kent Vickery about his degree in archaeology, but never enough. I do remember meeting Jim and Kent in the 2nd grade at College Hill Elementary. I do regret not knowing them later, especially because of their interest in Native American culture. What I think about is how much we have missed out on so many INFORMATIVE CONVERSATIONS. Yet, from this web page I have learned that people I barely knew have pursued fascinating careers and studied in a wide variety of fields. We are fortunate to have these second chances!
When I was teaching in Texas, one of my bosses told me that her education degree had focused on a school in Wichita as the number one example of a truly great high school. Then she told me that it was East High and that it had a stellar national reputation. I laughed and told her it was impossible, that I went there, and it was just a regular high school. Now, of course, since I have read about various classmates, I have reconsidered our encounters with one another and am rather proud of our class, our school. In my older age, I am feeling more appreciative of the range of skills and achievements. During the reunions I have always tried to sit with classmates I did not know very well, and make a more informed friendship.