afternoon, May 10 th , 2019. His devoted wife, Toni, his brother Jack, and his son Tom,
were by his side.
Don was born February 7 th , 1934 to Charles and Dorothy Bruner while living in
Henderson, Kentucky. This was during America’s great depression. Soon, Dorothy had
two more sons, became divorced, and relocated to Evansville, Indiana. Even though
Don was quite young, he took on the role of being the “man of the house”. This new job
fit him perfectly as he was a profoundly good role model and had matured beyond his
young age. In 1942, Don and the family moved to the underserved area of Los Angeles
known as “South Central LA”. Early on, Don realized that he needed to work so he
began his first job as a paperboy for the Los Angeles Examiner. In high school, he drove
a meat truck in the evenings, to help pay the rent, among other things. He graduated
from South Gate High School in 1952 where he excelled in football and band. His
marching band participated in the Rose Bowl parade a number of times. Further, Don
was always good academically. He matriculated to East L.A. College, played football,
and was voted in as student body president. Subsequently, he received a football
scholarship to Occidental College where he earned his college degree and graduated in
1956. It was during his time at college, when Don drove the famous Oscar Meyer
Wienermobile!
After graduating from college in 1956, Don went to Pensacola, FL along with a few of his
friends. They joined the US Navy and became a jet fighter pilots. He flew an F-4
Phantom jet off of the carrier USS Ranger. He spent the subsequent 5 years as a fighter
pilot and an intelligence officer. After serving in the naval reserve for a few years, he
retired with the rank of Lt. Cmdr.
It was in 1960 that Don began a lengthy career as a banker, specializing in residential
construction financing, and condominium and community development. He later went
to Webster University and received his Masters degree in Construction Management.
Don truly was a master at bringing together the essential financial and project data,
making it possible to go forward with a large variety of real estate ventures and
building projects.
Eventually, he met and fell in love with his wife Toni, who as a Brit, and truly his soul
mate. They were a wonderful married couple for 48 years!
Don was known especially for his kindness. The word “compassion” and Don Bruner
were synonymous. Again, he was a wonderful companion to his wife, Toni. They became
a happy and loving couple who became well known to their friends as organizers for
hilarious, fun, dinner parties. Don’s job, which he handled with joy, was both organizing
the event and then, cleaning up afterwards. Always involved with the details. It was here
that he the shined the brightest. Never wanting to be in front, garnering attention, but
in the back, supporting in any way he could; making everyone feel important, happy,
and relevant. For this, he will be missed greatly. You never walked away from a
conversation with Don without a smile.
He is survived by his wife of forty-eight years, Toni, of Newport Beach., son Tom, of
Irvine, CA., brother Jack of Sacramento, CA., brother Michael Stuckey of Prescott,
Arizona, and granddaughter Delaney Wilson of Whitefish, Montana.
A celebration of life in Don’s memory, will be held in July.
In lieu of flowers, pass along Don’s kindness today to someone you normally wouldn’t. And smile.
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