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Saturday, January 29, 2022
East Oregonian
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Andy Nicolais/East Oregonian
Umatilla County Public Health in the last seven days reported 1,124 new COVID-19 cases. The seven-day average of new cases dropped after peaking at 240 on Jan. 17 down to 206 on
Jan. 27. The county’s test positivity rate fell from a record high last week of 37.4% to 35.6% this week, which still indicates COVID-19 is circulating widely in the area.
Community mourns passing of former principal, NFL player
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — When
the word went out about the
death of a former Hermiston
High School administrator,
many people expressed their
sorrow.
Philip “Buzz” Brazeau Jr.
died Jan. 12 at the age of 72.
Locals are talking about the
man they describe as both a
“giant personality” and an
“intellectual.”
“Buzz was more than just
a great administrator,” Tricia
Mooney, Hermiston School
District superintendent, said.
“He was a great human. The
Hermiston School District
and our community are fortu-
nate that we had the opportu-
nity to have Buzz on our team.
His legacy is in the lives he
touched and the people he
impacted. We are all better
because of him.”
According to the Hermis-
ton School District, Brazeau
was employed as a Hermiston
High School assistant princi-
pal 2004-07 and principal
2007-12, and he was the 2011-
12 Hermiston School District
Administrator of the Year.
Outside of Hermiston,
he was known as a football
player for Washington State
University, the Los Angeles
Rams, the Green Bay Pack-
ers and the Portland Storm.
After his football days, he
worked as a teacher, a coach
and a school administrator at
diff erent school districts.
His obituary praises him
as a family man, a loving
husband to wife Kathy, and
a beloved father, uncle and
grandfather.
Umatilla County Commis-
sioner Dan Dorran is among
those who said they grieve
over Brazeau’s death. Dorran
was at Brazeau’s memorial
service, which was Jan. 22 in
Salem. Dorran said he consid-
ered Brazeau a “really good
friend.”
Dorran said the memorial
service was heart-felt. Several
people were there, he said, and
they spoke of their disappoint-
ment about the man’s death.
Based upon the outpouring of
emotion from funeral attend-
ees, Dorran said it was obvi-
ous how people felt about the
East Oregonian, File
Former Hermiston Principal Buzz Brazeau gives a hug to senior quarterback Faafi aula Ena
after the Bulldogs on Nov. 7, 2009, held on to beat Pendleton on its home home fi eld. Brazeau
died Jan. 12, 2022. He was 72.
former principal: They loved
him, Dorran said.
The two worked together
on several projects, Dorran
said. In addition, Brazeau was
principal when Dorran’s chil-
dren were students at the high
school. They also attended
church together, he said. As
such, their families got to
know each other well.
“If you knew Buzz, you
had a friend,” Dorran said.
“You always came away from
him a little smarter, a little
kinder, with a little diff erent
view of the world after every
conversation with him.”
He was an intellectual
as well as a bigger-than-life
personality, Dorran said.
Over at Hermiston High
School, Principal Tom Spoo
expressed many of the same
feelings and insights. He
worked in the school district
alongside Brazeau and
described him as as a smart
and powerful individual.
Spoo said he was an agri-
cultural science teacher at the
school when Brazeau began
working as the assistant prin-
cipal. When Brazeau became
principal, Spoo took the job
as assistant principal. The pair
worked together for four years
before Spoo left to be princi-
pal of Armand Larive Middle
School.
As co-workers, they spoke
daily and constantly, Spoo
said. Both morning people,
the pair frequently met early
in the day. Still at work into
the evening on some days,
they had multiple conversa-
tions throughout work hours.
Spoo said they did not
always agree with one
another, but he always felt
impressed with Brazeau. The
former principal, according
to Spoo, always put students
fi rst.
He credited Spoo for an
excellent and impressive atti-
tude toward students. Spoo
also holds young people in
A Mystery by
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80
high regard, just like his old
boss, he said. Still, Brazeau
had a special way about him
that made him diff erent, he
said.
“He was a big, old teddy
bear,” Spoo said. “That is,
until you got him fi red up.
Then he’d turn into a grizzly
bear.”
Spoo said the old bear
would get very excitable
while watching his school’s
teams play sports. At games,
Spoo recalled, Brazeau would
lead fans in cheers, which
endeared him to the students.
“I think a lot of kids saw
him as a grandfather, in some
regards,” Spoo said.
As for Spoo, he said he saw
Brazeau as both a mentor and
a friend.
The commissioner and
the principal said they are not
alone in missing Brazeau. His
impact was felt by a generation
of people not only through the
high school but also through
Brazeau’s community service.
He served on boards for the
Umatilla County Fair and the
Eastern Oregon Trade and
Event Center.
Agatha
Christie
%
through
Monday,
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