Bruce Allan Bunner of Fernandina Beach, Florida and Highlands, North Carolina passed away peacefully at his home in Highlands on Sunday, June 5, 2016. He was 82 years old.
Bruce was born on November 9, 1933, to former Police Lieutenant Edgar Allen and Alice Ann Bunner. He spent his youth in White Plains, New York, where he often remembered with pride his time on the White Plains High School football and track teams. As a youth, Bruce loved spending his summer vacations on the family farm in West Virginia. In 1952, he earned a football scholarship to Syracuse University, where he was a halfback for the Orangemen for two years before enlisting in the Army in 1954. He completed officer candidate school and ultimately earned the rank of First Lieutenant. Bruce served his country with honor during the Korean War and returned home to complete his bachelors degree from New York University in 1959.
Upon completing his studies, Bruce moved to California and began a long and successful business career with several turns in public and community service. He rose to the level of partner in the accounting firm of KPMG LLP from 1974 to 1990. From 1983-1986, he was appointed by then Governor George Deukmejian to serve as the Insurance Commissioner of the State of California, which he did with distinction. From 1991 to 1994, Bruce served as Chairman of the Board of Centre Reinsurance Company of New York. He went on to become President of Financial Structures Limited, a Bermuda-based insurance company before retiring in 2002. Bruce also served on the Board of Mercury General Insurance Corporation for many years.
As distinguished as his business career was, the most important part of his life was his contributions and service to God through Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru). When Bruce first moved to California, he met his wife Ingrid Steensland, one of the first employees of the organization founded by Dr. Bill Bright, which would eventually become the world’s largest Christian ministry. Bruce and Ingrid were married for over 40 years until Ingrid’s death in 2004. Over several decades, Bruce served in a number of roles at Campus Crusade, including turns as Chief Financial Officer and a long-standing member of the Board of Directors until his retirement from the organization in 2015.
In 2006, Bruce and Deborah (McConnell) met in Highlands, North Carolina and were married in New York City. Over the remaining ten years of his life, he and Deborah enjoyed traveling, playing golf in Highlands, reading and sitting with their dogs on the front porch of their Fernandina Beach home and spending time with family. Bruce is survived by his wife, Deborah; his children, Erika Duffy (Will), Edgar Bunner (Shannon), Elke Spoor (Bill), and Bruce J. Bunner (Kelen); his 14 grandchildren William, Riley, Ingrid, Kelsey, Tietjen, Annika, Katherine, Reese, Elsa, Auden, John, Danya, Townes, and Merritt; his sisters Barbara Watanabe and Gail Rubke; and Deborah’s children Howard Dugger (Sarah), Maurie Dugger and grandchildren Maisie, Tegan, and Sidney. Bruce’s oldest grandson William is following in his grandfather’s footsteps and will enter Syracuse University in the fall.
Bruce was an avid reader, a gifted poet and wrote vivid heartfelt letters to those he loved. In some sense, Bruce was a true Renaissance man and was always a perfect gentleman. Perhaps, however, his most important legacy was his strong love of family and friends and his wise counsel of professional and spiritual guidance to many. He will be remembered for his eternal optimism, his ever-present smile and laughter, his sly sense of humor, his tireless service to the needs of others, and his unwavering Christian faith.
A private burial service will be held on June 18, 2016 at Willowbrook Cemetery in Westport, Connecticut.