Jens Christensen Bruun

Jens Christensen Bruun&bb& Jens Christensen Brunn, Danish Furniture Entrepreneur, passed away at the age of 68. The creative and inspirational founder of Scan Design of Bellevue, WA died on Wednesday, April 10, 2002 of cancer in Aalborg, Denmark.&pe&Jens immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1961 and opened his first Danish furniture retail store in 1964. Over the years he steadily built an empire of 10 high-end furniture stores in the three state area of Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. His eye for craftsmanship and design earned Scan Design a reputation among their customers for providing fine quality Danish furniture.&pe&Jens was very personable and like to greet his customers, many of whom he had known for over 30 years. His heart was in his work and his relationship with his employees was well beyond just business. He genuinely cared about people and was generous with his time, talent and treasure.&pe&Jens traveled extensively throughout the world searching for unique art and furniture for his stores. He had a refined sense of what people would like. "Jens definitely had an eye for beautiful furniture pieces", said Ray Mahan, his General Manger. His friends in Denmark always knew Jens as very sociable and very hard working. Kurt Anderson, a long time friend and business partner, said "Even last January, at the furniture fair in Cologne, Germany, we would start early in the morning and not stop working until 1:00 am for three days in a row."&pe& Jens had numerous other interests beyond his business. He personally sponsored over 100 Danish youths who came to the United States to learn about American business and the American way of life. Many stayed with him at his residence in Medina and he provided them jobs in his company, mentoring them while they were here. His love for Denmark led him to become a board member and financial contributor to the Rebild Society, a non-profit organization whose purpose is to foster Danish-American relations.&pe&In addition to his stores in the U.S., Jens was the owner of a furniture factory in Denmark and held part interest in Pacific Market International of Seattle. Recently, he became deeply involved in supporting pain research being done in Denmark.&pe&Jens is survived by his two sisters, Katherine (Bruun) Kovacs of Victoria, B.C. and Ingrid (Bruun) Andersen of Vejen, Denmark; and nieces and nephews of which one, Ann Janssen, resides in the Seattle area. Jens' wife Inger died in late 1985. He spent much of his time in the past few years in Denmark building another Scan Design store with his much loved partner of many years, Marianne Adamsen.&pe&A United States Foundation and a Danish Foundation will be established in Jens' and Ingers' honor.&pe& A memorial service will be held for his many friends and associates of the Seattle/Bellevue area on Friday, April 19th at 2:00 pm at the St. John Lutheran Church, 5515 Phinney Avenue. N., Seattle, and an informal gathering will follow. At the same time a funeral service will be held in Jens' hometown in Denmark, at the Oster Lindet Church where Jens Christensen Bruun will be buried.&pe& In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the "Elder Care Program", Northwest Danish Foundation, 1833 N. 105th St., Seattle, WA 98133.