Royal Brumwell, founder of Pasadena flea market, dies at 78 | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

The Pasadena patriarch, founder of Brumwell's Flea Market on Mountain Road, was known for his kindness and loyalty, especially to his large, close-knit family.

"You would never have found a more honest man in your life," said Mr. Brumwell's daughter, Bonnie Brumwell Hoyas.

Mr. Brumwell died Wednesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center of complications from heart surgery. He was 78.

"He just loved life. And he wanted to live," Ms. Hoyas said.

Mr. Brumwell was an avid tractor collector - family members joked that he'd balk at spending $10 on a hamburger, but had no problem buying a $50,000 tractor - and he will ride in a tractor one last time during his funeral procession Monday in Glen Burnie.

A trailer hitched to a Ford tractor will carry his casket from Singleton Funeral and Cremation Services to the flea market on the way to the cemetery, the family said.

Mr. Brumwell is survived by his wife, Betty, along with his children, Royal Brumwell Jr., Wayne E. Brumwell Sr., Glenn D. Brumwell and Ms. Hoyas, all of Pasadena. He is also survived by sisters Lauretta Calvert of Pennsylvania and Grace Muhl of Pasadena.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Grace Brumwell, and siblings William, Margaret and Gordon Brumwell.

Family members spoke lovingly of a hard-working man who never got tired of hearing - or telling - the same jokes and stories.

"Pasadena is just in mourning," said longtime friend Rose Baxter, whose daughter, Tanya, is married to Mr. Brumwell's youngest son, Glenn. "He was just an icon."

His cousin, Henry Schmidt of Pasadena, said Mr. Brumwell was more like a brother to him. They grew up about a mile and a quarter apart, and Mr. Brumwell was less than a year older than him, Mr. Schmidt said. When they got their first cars in the late 1940s, they took their first road trip out of Maryland together.

"I'll miss not being able to talk about the old times with him once a week," Mr. Schmidt said.

Mr. Brumwell, whose family settled in Pasadena in the 1920s, was the founder of several businesses on the peninsula. He started Brumwell's Gas Station in the early 1950s, and Brumwell's Fuel Service several years later. He also sold animal feed at Brumwell's Feed Store and worked as a grave digger and an excavator.

"He was like a pillar of the community," said Kay Walker, manager of Cookie's Kitchen in Pasadena. "Everybody liked him, and he is going to be very, very missed."

He seemed to love playing in the dirt most of all, Ms. Hoyas said. She remembered when he bought 275 acres of land on the Eastern Shore in the 1970s, and he would often go there to ride around on his tractors.

"I think it gave him a high, to push that dirt around," she said.

His property was next to Compass Pointe Golf Course, and he liked to ride around in his tractor and pick up golf balls.

He also enjoyed working.

"Really, all my dad did was work," Ms. Hoyas said. "He had three hobbies - work, work and more work."

He's perhaps best known for the flea market, open year round on weekends. The Pasadena landmark has attracted shoppers from all over Maryland, as well as from Pennsylvania and Virginia, family members said.

When the flea market opened in 1986, there were only about 10 or 12 vendors, Ms. Hoyas recalled. Now, there are more than 200.

He loved collecting all kinds of trinkets, so running a flea market was perfect, the family said.

Mr. Brumwell was also known for helping anyone who needed it. When he ran the fuel businesses, he gave fuel to customers who couldn't afford it, never asking for repayment.

"I remember when I started working for my dad, he had a stack of bounced checks this high," Ms. Hoyas said.

But he just shrugged his shoulders and let it go.

An animal lover, he at one point raised 200 hogs and had other livestock on the family farm in Pasadena, including a pet rooster.

Family and friends may visit from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today at the funeral home, 1 Second Ave. S.W. in Glen Burnie. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday. Interment will be at Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Pasadena.