BRUNING, Francis "Frank" Edward
was born on July 11, 1932, in Sherborn, Massachusetts, and died on December 17, 2021, in Tucson, AZ, at 89 years old. He leaves behind his wife of 25 years, Penelope; his ex-wife, Karen; his children, Tricia Mateosky, Christopher Bruning, Raymond Bruning, Francis Bruning II, Michael Bruning, Spencer Carter, Alex Bruning, Phoenix Bruning, Alia Jones, Noni Jones, Pendleton Jones and Tosh Jones along with grandchildren, Seth, Chelsie, Athen, Beverly, Tyler, Dustin, Grayson, Everett, James, Dazzlyn, Rincon, Bishop, Sawyer, Elsie and Kingston. He is also survived by his siblings, Grace, Elva, Raymond and Irene. He was also an "Uncle Frank" to many, but not too many. Frank was preceded in death by his son, Kevin; his daughter, Jacquelena and his siblings, Paul, Gertrude, Evelyn and Carl.
Frank graduated from Framingham High School (Boston) in 1950, then moved to Tucson, Arizona. He served in the Air Force out of Victoria, TX. Frank retired from the Tucson Fire Department as Captain after 20-years of service, then he worked as a school bus driver, a shuttle bus driver and a semi-truck driver and served as a church pastor in Benson, Arizona. He loved the Boston Red Sox and frequented Fenway Park as a child. He coached many of his children's sports teams in Tucson. Frank had a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles with family members and appreciated steam, locomotive and model trains.
"Papa Frank" was a man of true integrity and faith and a fierce protector of those he loved. He was one of the kindest men to have ever walked the earth and he will be missed immensely by all that knew him.
There will be two services for Francis: Grace To the Nations on Friday, January 21, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. and Tucson Firefighters Memorial Ceremony on Saturday, January 22, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. These events are live-streamed through www.GTTN.org and www.facebook.com/TucsonFireDept respectively.
