Jay Brundage, 41, hazardous materials specialist

Jay E. Brundage of Mountain Road, a hazardous materials specialist, died on Saturday, April 19, of a sudden illness while visiting family in Loch Sheldrake, N.Y. He was 41 years old and the husband of the late Christine Jensen Brundage, who died in 1994.
A native of Norwalk, Mr. Brundage was born on May 4, 1962, a son of Jay R. and Patricia Farrington Brundage of Ridgefield. He attended Norwalk schools and Norwalk High School. In 1979, he and his family moved to Ridgefield.
Mr. Brundage was in expert in handling hazardous materials and specialized in toxic spills. When he was 17, he began his career at New England Pollution Control in Norwalk where he worked for eight years. When his father founded American Environmental Technologies Inc. in Bethel in 1988, Mr. Brundage joined that firm. When Fleet Environmental Services bought the company a few years ago, he remained with Fleet, serving as a foreman working out of the Bethel office.
Mr. Brundage led cleanups at chemical fires and explosions, train wrecks, and other disasters around the country where toxic chemicals were involved. “He worked on some of the biggest spills — some really nasty jobs,” said his father.
It was often grueling work, his father added. As an example, when a huge transformer in a 17-story state office building in Binghamton, N.Y., caught fire and released highly toxic chemicals and smoke, Mr. Brundage worked seven days a week for five months on removing the “heavy contamination” and it was still several years before the building could be safety reopened.
For relaxation, Mr. Brundage enjoyed freshwater fishing and boating, particularly on Lake Candlewood. He was also an enthusiastic fan of the New York Yankees.
Mr. Brundage especially enjoyed his children, Kyle and Samantha. “He was a good dad — he loved those kids,” said his father. He’d take them to ballgames and other sporting events, amusement parks and to visit their grandparents in Minnesota each year. “Kyle just loved to go fishing with him,” his father said.
Mr. Brundage was a member of St. Mary’s Church in Ridgefield.
Besides his parents, he is survived by a son, Kyle Brundage, and a daughter, Samantha Brundage, both of Ridgefield; three sisters, Laureen Magyar of Bethel, Barbara Brundage of Loch Sheldrake, N.Y., and Patricia Mentnech of Danbury; a brother, Matthew Brundage of Ridgefield; and several nieces and nephews.
A son, Zachary Brundage, died before him.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday morning at 10:30 in St. Mary’s Church, Ridgefield. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bethel.
Friends will be received in the Kane Funeral Home, 41 Catoonah Street, on Thursday from 4 to 8.
Contributions to benefit Mr. Brundage’s son and daughter may be made to the Connecticut Higher Educational Trust, c/o Jay R. Brundage, Trustee, 16 Mountain Road, Ridgefield, CT 06877.