Donald Bruner

Tell City, Indiana, Donald A. Bruner, 74, of Tell City, passed away Friday, December 27, 2013 at Perry County Memorial Hospital. Don was born on October 4, 1939 in the old farmhouse of his grandmother and grandfather's to Stanley L. Bruner and Beulah M. (Popham) Bruner, near Deer Creek Baptist Church in Perry County Indiana. He grew up like most kids that lived on farms. He loved animals and the open fields to play in. He went to a one room school not too far away. Luckily, a teacher lived on the farm next to his grandparents. Later his parents moved in to Tell City. His parents enrolled him in the local school system. Don was not afraid to work. He started his work career as a bellhop at the William Tell Hotel when he was 12 years old. He then worked at Freemans Bakery as a pot scrubber, as well as at several filling stations around town until he was old enough to leave school and see the world. He left high school shortly before his 17th birthday, joining the United States Marine Corps. He traveled around the world doing amphibious warfare training with various reserve and full-time units. In1958, his unit was sent to the Mediterranean. While there his unit was assigned by President Eisenhower to go to Beirut, Lebanon as a peacekeeping force. After several months, he returned to the United States. He spent the rest of the time training groups on amphibious landings, mainly in Puerto Rico and the East coast of the United States. He was honorably discharged on October 4, 1959 - his 20th birthday. He came home married the former Carolyn Beard on June 9, 1962. and immediately went to work at the Tell City Chair Company, where he worked after some training in-house and at Evansville College as an industrial engineer. He then left and started another career as production manager of Swiss plywood Corporation. In 1978, he went to work for Martin Marietta Corporation as a shift supervisor. From 1960 to the present, Don was involved in many different organizations and charities, which he thoroughly enjoyed. He spent a little over 10 years as a member of the Schweitzer Fest committee, Easter Seals, Junior Achievement and United Way. He was a member of the United Methodist Church. He was also a charter member of the Marine Corps League in Perry County, and a past master of the Tell City Masonic Lodge #623, and was a dual member of Hancock Masonic Lodge in Hawesville, Ky. He also taught several semesters of industrial trades courses at Ivy Tech in Tell City. Don truly enjoyed being a judge working the election polls at election time, particularly helping to explain the new voting systems. Don retired in 2001 from Commonwealth Aluminum in Kentucky. The last few years of his life, Don battled leukemia, Guillain Barre Syndrome, asthma, COPD and most recently lung cancer. Several years ago, he spent approximately 6 weeks completely paralyzed on a breathing machine and a lot of medication. At that time, he was given a 10% or less chance of surviving - but he survived with a lot of help from God and some very good doctors, nurses and therapists. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Carolyn J.( Beard) . He is also survived by their two sons, Brian Allen Bruner ( Tammy) of Tell City and Matthew J. Bruner (Mary) of Owensboro, Ky. and three grandchildren , Sydney, Alexander and Seth Bruner. A half-sister, Betty L Dillingham (Rick) of Boonville, Indiana. and a niece, Abby Scales ( Jeremy) of Bettendorf, Iowa, and their three daughters. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Jane Reed (Ray), Cannelton and his brother-in-law, William Beard. He was preceded in death by his mother Beulah M. (Popham) Bruner, his father, Stanley L. Bruner and his stepmother Hazel (Heck)Bruner and his grandparents. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 PM Sunday, December 29, 2013 at Huber Funeral Home, Tell City Chapel, with burial in Greenwood Cemetery where the Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct military graveside rites. Pastor Lee Shepherd will officiate. Visitation is from 2:00 - 8:00 PM Saturday and 11:00 AM - 1:00PM Sunday at the funeral home. Masonic Lodge memorial services will be held at 7:00 PM on Saturday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to First United Methodist Church or the Tell City Masonic Lodge.