Obituary of Fred Bruns

Ex-Suffolk Det. Frederick Bruns dies BY DEBORAH S. MORRIS deborah.morris@newsday.com 9:53 PM EDT, April 8, 2009 Frederick W. Bruns Jr., a longtime Huntington resident and retired Suffolk County police detective, died of heart disease Monday in Jupiter, Fla., where he kept a winter home. He was 74.Bruns lived his life to the fullest, his daughter said, buoyed by his signature confidence and a policy to always look for the good in people."He was a firm believer in never giving up," said his daughter Annamarie Hyne of Fort Salonga. "He always gave 110 percent effort and instilled that in his family to do the same."Bruns was born April 28, 1934, in Manhattan and moved as a young child to Huntington. He graduated from South Huntington High School in 1952 and soon began working at Republic Aviation in Farmingdale.In 1955 he joined the Huntington police department and moved to the Suffolk County Police Department's Second Precinct in 1960 when the two departments merged. He rose to the rank of detective and retired in 1975. Hyne said her father served as Second Precinct trustee for the county Police Benevolent Association and was an active member of the Suffolk County Retired Detectives Association."He was really proud to be a police officer," Hyne said. "He enjoyed helping people."In 1956 Bruns married Marie Heskin, and the couple settled in Melville, later moving to Dix Hills and Huntington.Hyne said the close-knit family often traveled together to such destinations as Florida, and Bruns especially took pleasure in good food, photography and in playing golf, a sport he introduced to his grandsons."They really kept him going," Hyne said. "It was almost like they had two fathers he was so involved. He was also very close to my husband," Thomas, a longtime Newsday employee.In addition to his wife and daughter, survivors include grandsons Thomas Hyne of Fort Salonga, Michael Frederick Hyne of New London, Conn., and Matthew Hyne of Fort Salonga.A wake will be from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow and 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at M.A. Connell Funeral Home, 934 New York Ave., Huntington Station. A funeral Mass will be said Monday at 9:45 a.m. at St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Huntington. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be sent to the American Heart Association. Copyright 2009, Newsday Inc.