Craig Bruns

1931 - 2015

(News article) Craig M. Bruns, a certified public accountant who oversaw the finances of the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority and the North Toledo Lutheran church where his grandfather was a founding member, died Monday in Lutheran Village at Wolf Creek in Springfield Township. He was 84.

Doctors detected no cancer since surgery in August, but he had developed pneumonia, his wife, Carol, said.

Mr. Bruns of South Toledo retired in 2006 from the transit authority, which hired him 30 years earlier as comptroller. He also was secretary-treasurer of the TARTA board of trustees.

He made decisions in the absence of the general manager, said James Gee, general manager since 2003. Mr. Bruns twice served as interim general manager of the authority, which provides transit service in Toledo and nearby communities. He prepared the annual budgets and monthly financial statements. He advised trustees on levies and sought other sources of funding.

"He was amazing," said Mr. Gee, who knew him since 1992. "He was very strong financially, very practical. He was a great asset to the organization and, on a personal level, he was a real gentleman. He was a guy you could go to for advice. He was always willing to talk and share."

Mr. Bruns wanted to make sure the authority took care of all the riders who needed it, his wife said. "His mission was to make sure TARTA kept running," his wife said.

From the 1950s until recently, Mr. Bruns was treasurer of Salem Lutheran Church on North Huron Street. His grandfather was a founding member, and though the family was long gone from North Toledo, Mr. Bruns stayed, keeping the books, teaching Sunday school, and singing bass in the choir. He was a former church council president. When he and his wife married, "Salem needed him more than the church I belonged to," she said.

As the fortunes of the neighborhood turned, Salem Lutheran kept its doors open to all, the poor or addicted or mentally ill, as a place to find spiritual solace, but also a meal, tutoring, or use of a computer.

"A lot of people say we do more social work than ministry, but that's all part of our ministry," Mr. Bruns told The Blade in 2009.

Mr. Bruns also had been secretary-treasurer of Metro Toledo Churches United, an ecumenical group.

He was born Jan. 17, 1931 to Leona and Carl Bruns and grew up in West Toledo. He was a 1949 graduate of DeVilbiss High School and received an accounting degree from the University of Toledo in 1953. He was in the Army during the Korean War and worked at Konopak & Dalton, an accounting firm, Haughton Elevator, and Prestolite Co.

Surviving are his wife, Carol, whom he married Feb. 12, 1966; son, Scott; daughter, Christy Diegel; twin brother, Carl, and four grandsons.

Visitation is 2-8 p.m. today in the Walter Funeral Home, where services will be at 11 a.m. Friday. The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Area Humane Society.

This story was written by Blade Staff Writer Mark Zaborney. Contact him at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.