Clark County’s Valentine Sweethearts: Greg and Sherri Brunk

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Greg and Sherri Brunk

Greg and Sherri Brunk are celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary on April 3, 2022.

Greg and Sherri are from Kahoka, Missouri.

Greg Brunk was born on September 26, 1951 in Burlington, Iowa. His parents were Ron and Donna Brunk.

Greg went to school in Revere, Missouri and he graduated from Revere High School in 1969. Immediately after high school, he was drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam.

Sherri Nichols was born on December 27, 1955 in Keokuk, Iowa. Her parents were Floyd and Esther Nichols.

“My mom always said I was not born, I was hatched,” Sherri laughed.

Sherri went to school in Kahoka and she graduated from Clark County R-1 High School in 1974.

Greg and Sherri first met at a Revere Alumni dinner in Revere, MO.

“Betty Strickler, who was a friend of mine, invited me to go to the Revere Alumni in May of 1975 and that is the beginning,” Sherri said.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone,” Sherri laughed.

Sherri is thankful that Betty invited her that day because she may have never met Greg.

“Had it not been for Betty, I wouldn’t have gone to a Revere Alumni and I really didn’t have any friends in Revere,” Sherri said.

At the Revere Alumni they enjoyed a big meal and dancing.

“He hated to dance, but he danced with me,” Sherri said. “He was a wild guy,” Sherri laughed.

When Sherri first met Greg, she wasn’t ready for a relationship.

“I had just gotten out of a bad relationship and I wasn’t ready to get right back in, but as time went on, yes. I wouldn’t trade him for a million dollars,” Sherri said.

Sherri was divorced at the time when she met Greg. She also had a 6-month-old son named Justin.

“He took Justin in as his own and Justin was only 6 months old,” Sherri said.

The couple lived together for two years before they got engaged. Sherri was the one who proposed to Greg.

“I just remember that I thought that he was going to be the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. He was such a good father to Justin and truly cared about me, so I just told him I thought we needed to get married. He would have gotten married to me before, but I just wasn’t ready,” Sherri said.

The couple got married on April 3, 1977.

The ceremony took place at the Kahoka Christian Church, and Reverend Harper officiated the wedding.

“We didn’t have a big wedding, we just had friends come, in fact my mom and dad didn’t come. Jeff and Neva Brunk stood up with us. There were probably only about ten people there.”

“Ricky White was there, and he took us all out to eat at the Catfish Place after,” Sherri said.

Sherri remembers the wedding day very well.

“I can remember standing up there at the altar and I can still hear Justin saying out loud, ‘That’s my mom and dad, that’s my mom and dad!’ It was so cute,” Sherri smiled.

“When we got married all of Greg’s friends said it won’t last a year,” Sherri said, but the couple proved them wrong.

After the wedding, the couple decided to not go on a honeymoon because they were both busy working. Greg worked on construction and Sherri worked at Dr. Kirchner’s chiropractic practice as a receptionist.

After they were married, the couple had two more children, Joshua and Gregory Shawn. They lived in a tiny house next to the Locker in Kahoka and later moved to Argyle, Iowa.

“When Shawn was a baby, we bought 25 acres and a house at Argyle, but Greg was trucking, and I was there alone a lot and I didn’t like it, so we sold it to his mom and dad and we came back to Kahoka,” Sherri said.

The couple stayed in Kahoka and they started a business of their own. They decided to sell kettle corn at fairs and other events across many states.

“When we first started out, I was working for Riverside Plastics in Bonaparte,” Sherri said.

The couple first started making old time brooms but decided to make a change.

“We used to make old time brooms and one time we were in southern Missouri and we saw this guy had this kettle corn and he had a line a mile long and Greg said, ‘I think we are in the wrong business.’ He went over, and he watched the guy for a little while and came back and said, ‘I think I can build one of those,’” Sherri said.

Greg built their first kettle when they got back home. At one point, 17 people in their family sold kettle corn.

“Our very first kettle corn show was the Clark County Fair in 1990 and we have been doing kettle corn for 32 years,” Sherri said.

Greg and Sherri Brunk sell their kettle corn at many events, including the Missouri, Iowa, and Florida State Fairs.

“At one time, we were doing 35 to 40 weekends a year. Then, after we got into the first year in Florida, it allowed us to quit our jobs and do it full time,” Sherri said.

After being married for 45 years, the couple has some advice to give to others.

“It is so easy to give up on marriage today, but love will prevail if you really want it to. Life is what you make it, and it’s all up to you.”

“You give and take, not all days are rosy. You will have disagreements, but never go to bed mad. Tomorrow will be a better day. If you have somebody that truly loves you, there is no amount of money that it is worth. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we have survived through thick and thin,” Sherri said.