1924
Dale
2013
Dale D. Bruns
July 21, 1924 — December 14, 2013
Dale Bruns 89 of Chappell, Nebraska died at the Davis Hospice Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming on Saturday morning, Dec 14, 2013.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday, December 21 in the Zion Lutheran Church in Chappell with Pastor Daniel Larson officiating. He will be interred in the Chappell cemetery next to the love of his life, Marie. Following graveside services with military honors, everyone is invited to join the family for lunch at the Chappell Fire Hall.
In lieu of flowers a memorial in Dale’s name can be made to the Davis Hospice Center, 6000 Sycamore Rd, Cheyenne, WY 82009, or the B-24 Crash Site Memorial, In Care of VFW Post 7002, in Chappell, NE 69129.
Visitation will be held from 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Friday, December 20 in the Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell.
Dale David Bruns was born on his parents’ farm three miles south of Chappell, NE, on Jul 21, 1924. He went to country school, then Deuel County High School, graduating in 1941. He attended the University of Nebraska on an Agriculture Short Course until he had to return to help his father and mother, Harvey J and Viola P Bruns, on their farm after Pearl Harbor. He entered the US Army early in 1945, and married Marie A. Essman on March 21, 1945, between basic training and shipping out for the European Theatre of War. Arriving in France at the end of the Battle of Bulge, he served in the 28th Division, HQ Battery of the Field Artillery. After serving in the Army of Occupation in Germany, he returned to the USA where he was to train for the invasion of Japan. While on leave the war in Japan ended in August, and he and Marie remained stateside, mustering out of the Army in 1946 and returning to Chappell. They set up shop on a farm a mile south of where he was born, and lived there all their lives. Marie died in 2002, but Dale remained on and operated the farm even after his cancer diagnosis early in 2013. A member of Zion Lutheran Church, Dale was also involved in the community, serving on the school board for seven years, and as president of the Rural Fire Board for thirty years. As a founding member of the Chappell VFW and American Legion, he was proud that he presented the flag of his best friend from High School, Kent Wright, to Kent’s widow in the first military funeral in Chappell after WWII. He helped with nearly every military funeral in Chappell, as well as many in neighboring towns, until the funeral of Keith Wright, Kent’s brother, who died in 2012.
His sister Joan, his sons Randy (Donna) and Barry (Mary) of Cheyenne, Wyoming, survive him as do his grandchildren Nikole Carey (Shawn), their sons Caden and Grant of Denver, CO, Zachary Bruns of San Francisco, CA, Paul Bruns, and Travis Bruns (Nellie) of Colorado, step grandchildren Julie Enderby of Colorado, Megan Enderby of Seattle, WA, and Ashley Day (Dustin) and their son Landon of Lincoln, NE.
His parents, his brothers Carl and Glenn, his sister Irene, and his step grandson, Ben Cunningham, preceded him in death.
Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Chappell is serving the Bruns family.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday, December 21 in the Zion Lutheran Church in Chappell with Pastor Daniel Larson officiating. He will be interred in the Chappell cemetery next to the love of his life, Marie. Following graveside services with military honors, everyone is invited to join the family for lunch at the Chappell Fire Hall.
In lieu of flowers a memorial in Dale’s name can be made to the Davis Hospice Center, 6000 Sycamore Rd, Cheyenne, WY 82009, or the B-24 Crash Site Memorial, In Care of VFW Post 7002, in Chappell, NE 69129.
Visitation will be held from 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Friday, December 20 in the Holechek Funeral Home in Chappell.
Dale David Bruns was born on his parents’ farm three miles south of Chappell, NE, on Jul 21, 1924. He went to country school, then Deuel County High School, graduating in 1941. He attended the University of Nebraska on an Agriculture Short Course until he had to return to help his father and mother, Harvey J and Viola P Bruns, on their farm after Pearl Harbor. He entered the US Army early in 1945, and married Marie A. Essman on March 21, 1945, between basic training and shipping out for the European Theatre of War. Arriving in France at the end of the Battle of Bulge, he served in the 28th Division, HQ Battery of the Field Artillery. After serving in the Army of Occupation in Germany, he returned to the USA where he was to train for the invasion of Japan. While on leave the war in Japan ended in August, and he and Marie remained stateside, mustering out of the Army in 1946 and returning to Chappell. They set up shop on a farm a mile south of where he was born, and lived there all their lives. Marie died in 2002, but Dale remained on and operated the farm even after his cancer diagnosis early in 2013. A member of Zion Lutheran Church, Dale was also involved in the community, serving on the school board for seven years, and as president of the Rural Fire Board for thirty years. As a founding member of the Chappell VFW and American Legion, he was proud that he presented the flag of his best friend from High School, Kent Wright, to Kent’s widow in the first military funeral in Chappell after WWII. He helped with nearly every military funeral in Chappell, as well as many in neighboring towns, until the funeral of Keith Wright, Kent’s brother, who died in 2012.
His sister Joan, his sons Randy (Donna) and Barry (Mary) of Cheyenne, Wyoming, survive him as do his grandchildren Nikole Carey (Shawn), their sons Caden and Grant of Denver, CO, Zachary Bruns of San Francisco, CA, Paul Bruns, and Travis Bruns (Nellie) of Colorado, step grandchildren Julie Enderby of Colorado, Megan Enderby of Seattle, WA, and Ashley Day (Dustin) and their son Landon of Lincoln, NE.
His parents, his brothers Carl and Glenn, his sister Irene, and his step grandson, Ben Cunningham, preceded him in death.
Holechek Funeral Home and Cremations in Chappell is serving the Bruns family.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Dale D. Bruns, please visit our flower store.
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