Angie Bruns

Northview - North Mankato Mortuary
2060 Commerce Drive
North Mankato, MN 56003
507-388-2288

Angie K. Bruns, age 88 of Mankato died Sunday, October 7, 2012 at Pathstone Living after a long battle with Alzheimer's. Angie was born on August 23, 1924 in Mankato, to John and Clara Haefner, being the sixth of their fifteen children.

The memorial service will be 10:00 AM on Saturday, October 13, 2012 at Crossview Covenant Church on Howard Drive in North Mankato with Father Joe Fogal officiating. Visitation is from 4-6 PM on Friday, October 12, 2012 at Northview - North Mankato Mortuary on Commerce Drive in North Mankato. Interment will be held later at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Condolences may be sent via website to the family at www.mankatomortuary.com. The family requests all memorials be made to any of the various organizations that help Alzheimer's patients and their families.

Angie was born with a song in her heart! She absolutely loved to sing! She sang on KYSM's "Mid-day Merry-Go-Round" radio show while still a teenager. After WW II started, she left for California to live with her sister, Mary. While there, she worked at Douglas Aircraft plant and would sing to the other employees during lunch. Little did she know that after a visit home to Minnesota, on the train back to California, she would meet the love of her life. He was a handsome Navy seaman who swept her off her feet! Three months later, on January 28, 1946, she became Mrs. Al Bruns in an intimate ceremony in Ocean Park, CA.

Angie and Al decided that MN would be a better place to raise a family than CA, so they moved back and settled in Mankato. Shortly thereafter, the first of their eight children was born. They built a house together in the new hilltop area of Mankato in 1951. Angie devoted herself to her family and was always singing to them. The sound of her voice and the music of the piano often greeted them when they returned home from school or work. She especially loved to play piano and harmonize with her siblings and children.

When Angie wasn't busy raising kids and taking care of their home, she was co-bookkeeper for her husband's business, Bruns & Mundahl Construction. Angie was tight with the family's finances, as any of her children will attest, but her frugalness allowed them to enjoy the fruits of their labors later in life. Al and Angie took up golf and joined the Mankato Golf Club where they spent many happy years. During the long MN winters, Angie played bridge with friends or curled with Al at the Caledonia Curling Club. She also enjoyed working crossword puzzles, being with her grandchildren, and of course, singing and playing the piano.

Angie loved to entertain, and she, along with a small troop of musicians, would travel around to various nursing homes in the area to sing and play for the residents. It would be ironic, that many years later she would be entertained by some of the same people she used to sing with. Al and Angie's long awaited retirement was cut short when Angie developed Alzheimer's, but she continued to sing from her wheelchair until she could no longer remember how. Her husband Al would also develop dementia at about the same time and little by little, this disease stole their lives from them. They both lived for a short time together at Pathstone Living, separated only by a hallway and a lifetime of forgotten memories. It was there that Al died suddenly in his sleep on Christmas morning, 2001. They had been married almost 56 years. Angie continued living at Pathstone until her death almost eleven years later.

Angie leaves behind her seven children and their spouses. Missing her deeply are; Craig and Nancy Bruns, Lewiston, ID, Diane and Jerry Borth, Mankato, Gail and Steve Jensen, Cass Lake, Grant and Deb Bruns, Plymouth, Laurie and Marty Reinhart, Wausau, WI, Lynn Franklin, Minneapolis, and Joe and Karrie Bruns, Mound. Angie leaves behind thirteen grandchildren, Meg, Josh, Fatomeh, Sara, Aaron, Jake, Adam, Jeff, Chris, Susan, John, Dan, and Elizabeth; two step-grandchildren, Jamiee and Tori; and many great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind five brothers, Walt (Lee), Harry (Donna), Denis (Phyllis), George (Anne), and Eddie (Jean); four sisters, Janet Nelson, Dee (Ron) Wright, Ruth Haefner, and Audrey (Dewey) Mettler; sister-in-law, Nila Haefner; plus many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Al; a stillborn son, Mark (Mom, you can finally hold him now!); four brothers, Ralph, Les, Clair, and Stan Haefner; and a sister, Mary Kudrle.