George T. Bruni

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- George T. Bruni, 81, of Eltingville, a retired FDNY firefighter, registered nurse, U.S. Army veteran and business owner who enjoyed traveling with his wife, died Friday in Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

Born in Brooklyn in what is now Brownsville, he graduated from the former Gustave Straubenmuller Textile High School in Manhattan.

Mr. Bruni served as a private first class in the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s, stationed in Germany. Following his active duty, he joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.

He was a member of the American Legion.

Mr. Bruni had a 21-year career as an FDNY firefighter, assigned to Engine Co. 309 in Brooklyn. He also studied to be a registered nurse at Bronx Community College, in a program geared to FDNY firefighters, and graduated earlier than his colleagues because he had previously attended college for two years.

He served in the Army Reserve as a nurse in a M*A*S*H unit.

Mr. Bruni also owned and operated Best Patio Block at several locations on the Island.

He and Mary Ann Baccarella met in Brooklyn and it was love at first sight for the couple. They wed in 1957 and had been married for 58 years.

"He was a quiet man with a good sense of humor," said his wife, Mary Ann. "He was a man of many hats -- in the Fire Department, the military, a nurse and owning a business. He was an avid boater, and he enjoyed gardening and watching football."

Mr. Bruni also was fond of traveling with his wife, and the couple had gone on many cruises and also traveled to Italy, England and Mexico.

He was a parishioner of Holy Child R.C. Church, Eltingville.

Surviving, along with his wife, Mary Ann, are his son, Marc; his daughter, Christina Bruni; his brother, Joseph, and two grandchildren.

The funeral will be Tuesday from the Casey McCallum Rice South Shore Funeral Home, Great Kills, with a Mass at 11 a.m. in Holy Child Church. Burial will follow in Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains.