Admiral Coontz Painting - Columbia, MO Veterans Hospital

Admiral painting to hang in Columbia Veterans Hospital

By MARGIE CLARK
Of the Courier-Post

One of Hannibal's most famous sons will soon have a permanent home thanks to a local artist.

"I started the painting last fall and it took about four weeks," said Brosi. "It was exhibited at the Hannibal Arts Gallery first. I had a choice of donating it to the state capitol or the VA hospital and decided more veterans would be seeing it at the hospital."

Robert Coontz was born in Hannibal in 1864 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1885. He was an admiral in the United States Navy, who sailed the Great White Fleet and served as the second Chief of Naval Operations. From 1912 to 1914, he was the governor of Guam and maintained many prestigious positions after that.

From October 1925, until his retirement in June 1928, Coontz served as commandant of the fifth Naval District, reverting to the rank of rear admiral. He remained active after retirement until he suffered a series of heart attacks, dying in 1935.

In 1930, Coontz wrote his memoirs in a book, "From the Mississippi to the Sea." He covered his naval service in the Spanish-American war, the Philippine Insurrection, Vera Cruz incident, World War I and the great cruise of the fleet to New Zealand and Australia. The book also featured some rare photographs of Coontz and his colleagues.

"This book is one of my inspirations to do the painting," said Brosi. "I'm not too much of a historian, but I really enjoyed this book - it being so close to home. I could hardly lay it down after I started reading it. I got the feeling I almost knew him (Coontz) personally and that he was a very honest and outright person who never did anything wrong. He is pictured in the book with two presidents and General Pershing." The portrait is painted from one of the pictures in the book, capturing a distinct and unique likeness of Coontz with a flag added in the background.

Another inspiration, Brosi said, came from a Hannibal man, Gene Yarbrough, who was a sextant at Mount Olivet Cemetery where Coontz is buried. Yarbrough died in 2002.

"Gene was a 30-year veteran himself and thought Admiral Coontz needed a new monument in his memory to replace the old stone that was in bad shape," said Brosi. Before Gene bought the new monument in 1989, I went out and refurbished the old stone a couple of times. Admiral Coontz could have been buried at Arlington National Cemetery with the highest honors, but preferred to be buried at Mount Olivet with his family and his love for Hannibal."

Brosi is a stone carver whose family traces its roots to 1840 in Germany. The family business, Hannibal Monument Company, has been in stone masonry for five generations passing the art from one to the next. Brosi retired in 2002, leaving the business to his son and starting taking more advantage of his many hobbies and talents.

"I've been painting off and on ever since I got home from World War II," he said. "I've never taken any lessons. My sister took me to an exhibit in Quincy where I looked at it and liked it. I thought I could do it, so I painted the River Queen. That was the first painting I exhibited and it won the People's Choice Award." He has since won numerous prizes.

A painting of Mark Twain by Brosi is on display at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Another famous person portrait is of Charles Lindbergh which is portrayed in Lindbergh's home town at Little Falls, Minn. He painted the Wabash Cannonball and presented it to country music legend Roy Acuff on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn.

"He (Acuff) told me he wanted to hang it in his home instead of a museum," said Brosi. "I sell most of my paintings, but these are some that I have donated."

Serving in the Air Force from 1941 to 1945, Brosi was a flight engineer on a B-17. During a mission over Schweinfurt, Germany, his plane was shot down and he was captured. He was a prisoner of war for the next 10 1/2 months.

"When I bailed out of the plane, I looked up and saw it with two engines on fire and two other parachutes coming out after me," he said. "We ended up as POW's for the better part of the year. They (Germans) kept us marching out of camp for about four months to keep the Russians from deliverance. It's something I wouldn't want to go through again. After returning from the war I bought half-interest in the monument company."

Oil painting and stone carving are only two of Brosi's talents. He is a musician, playing the steel guitar and Dobro with a local band that entertains nursing home residents, and performs at senior events and country music shows. He touches and inspires members with gospel music at churches. An accomplished ventriloquist, he, along with his dummy, Hector, perform for audiences in many places, including the incarcerated at prisons.

"I want to keep painting and doing my hobbies as long as I can," said Brosi. "I don't know if I will ever do another portrait of Admiral Coontz again. Maybe, if the need arises."

All contents Copyright 2006 The Hannibal Courier-Post and Morris Digital Works.