After earning his degree, Brosius helped convert his family's dairy operations into Marboro Mushrooms, a fresh-pack mushroom farm in West Grove. He later developed a mushroom spawn patent through Penn State. In a recent profile, Brosius described it as being the most profitable patent for the university.
"At the time, I was the only mushroom farmer in the area with a college degree," Brosius said of the southern Chester County area in the 1960s.
Brosius retired as president of Marboro Mushrooms in 1995, turning the company over to his sons, also Penn State alumni: Mahlon, Class of 1978; John, 1979; and Harold, 1980.
Brosius served as the state's secretary of agricultural from 1995 to 1997. As secretary, he led the commissions that oversaw soil conservation, farmland preservation, animal health and other agricultural issues in the state.
He recently was appointed to serve on the National Mushroom Council by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He is a former member of the Penn State Board of Trustees and now serves on the Penn State Great Valley Advisory Board and is chairman of Grand Destiny, a fund-raising campaign.
Fund-raising
Three students at the Montgomery School in Chester Springs - Lauren LeBoutillier, Andrew Arbitell and John Arbitell - were recognized recently for raising the most funds in the school's Math-a-thon.
The event, which requires students to find sponsors who bid on the number of math problems the students will complete, raised $10,000 for St. Jude Children's Hospital.
LeBoutillier, 13, raised $602.70. Andrew Arbitell, 7, a first grader, and his brother, John, 9, a third grader, tied for second. They each raised $425.
Organized by Sue Matthias, a math instructor at the school, the Math-a-thon is part of a national fund-raising campaign in its 21st year. It is sponsored by Six Flags theme parks.
Good-citizenship honor
