William G. Bruns

1936 - 2018

William (Bill) G. Bruns

Muncie - William (Bill) G. Bruns, one of Muncie's last iconic trial attorneys and public servants, died Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018 at Westminster Village. He was 82.

Bill officially retired just a year ago. He could be seen more lately holding court at Muncie's downtown coffee shop, where Bill and his friends talked about community politics, favorite sports teams and events of the day. Those who knew him best would smile at his sometimes "gruff" demeanor as he railed about his beloved Cincinnati Reds.

Bill was born Nov. 10, 1936 in Celina, Ohio, the son of Elton and Daisy (Gilmore)

Bruns. He grew up in New Bremen, Ohio and graduated from New Bremen High School in 1954, from Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio in 1958, and from Indiana University School of Law in 1961, with a doctorate of jurisprudence degree. He then was commissioned as an officer into the Air Force. Before reporting for active duty in 1962, he spent six months working for the Dean of the Law School at IU. He served in the armed forces until 1965, attaining the rank of captain as staff judge advocate, stationed at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Ill.

In 1964, Bill married Juanita Wehner in Wapakoneta, Ohio. The couple moved to Muncie in

1965, where Bill served as chief deputy prosecutor for five years, while practicing law with Slagle and Shirey through 1970. Bill became a partner at Cannon and Bruns in 1971, engaging in the general practice of law, which included trial practice. In 1969, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.

Bill served many years in the public service as attorney for Delaware-Muncie

Metropolitan Plan Commission from 1971 to 1973, attorney for Delaware County from 1973 to 1976, and as attorney for the Board of Sanitary Commissioners of the Muncie Sanitary District, from 1980 until 1983, and again form 1992 until 2008. In 1998, Bill was the Republican appointee to the Delaware County Election Board, and served three years. He was Muncie City Court judge from 2009 until 2011.

Bill served on many boards including Muncie YMCA, Ball State University's Cardinal Varsity Cub (CVC), Jaycee's, Mitchell Elementary PTO, and the United Way of Delaware County, where he also was a United Way division leader. He was on the Muncie Community School Board in the 1980s.

Bill was a member of Muncie Bar Association, where he served as president from 1971 to 1972; the Indiana State Bar Association, Indiana Trial Lawyers Association, National District Attorneys Association, and the Muncie Rotary Club. He was a member of St. Paul United Church of Christ in New Bremen, Ohio. Bill became an active volunteer in the late 1960s and early 1970s as Republican Precinct Committeeman, and helped serve on Republican election campaigns for local and state candidates.

He loved baseball, and besides being an avid Reds fan, he followed the Ball State University Cardinals. He also played in high school, college, and on a city league team. As a young man in Muncie, he was a baseball coach for an elementary school team and for an adult slow-pitch softball team.

Bill was a fixture at the downtown YMCA and enjoyed the camaraderie of his spinning buddies and of the Silver Sneakers class participants. Bill also enjoyed traveling and listening to music, sometimes a combination of the two, having attended an outdoor performance of the London Philharmonic, an opera in Vienna, and Dixieland in Helsinki and New Orleans. Music favorites included Dixieland, Beethoven, Mozart, and ABBA.

Bill is survived by his wife, Juanita Wehner Bruns, Muncie, to whom he has been

married for 54 years; two sons, Edward Bruns, Surry, Maine, and Daniel Bruns (Melinda), Greenwood, Ind; and several cousins in Ohio, California, and Arizona.

The family would like to thank Ball Memorial Indiana University Health and Westminster Village for the loving care Bill received while a patient or resident in the recent months.

He was preceded in death by his parents, aunts and uncles.

Graveside Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, November 30, 2018 at German Protestant

Cemetery in New Bremen, Ohio. The Rev. Rebecca Strang, senior pastor at St. Paul United Church of Christ, will officiate. He will have military honors.

A Memorial Service will be held in Muncie at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to Ball State University Foundation, 2800 W. Bethel

Ave., Muncie, Ind., 47304, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, 201 E. Jackson St., Muncie, Ind., 47305, or St. Paul United Church of Christ, 119 N. Franklin St., New Bremen, Ohio, 45869. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.meeksmortuary.com