JoAnn (DeKeyser) Bruns

Born in Manchester, Iowa on February 25, 1940
Departed on May 13, 2009. Resided in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Memorial

JoAnn (DeKeyser) Bruns, 69, died Wednesday at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy following a short illness related to her long struggle with emphysema. Visitation will be held Sunday evening, May 17 from 4:00 – 7:00pm at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Monday morning at 10:00 am will be a short visitation followed by a memorial service at 11:00am at the Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories. Following the service, a reception for friends and family to celebrate JoAnn’s life will be held at the Family Center at Cedar Memorial Park. Private interment will be held Monday afternoon in Oakland Cemetery, Manchester.
JoAnn will forever be loved and missed by her two children, Steven of Phoenix, Arizona and Ann Bruns-Rotunno of Clifton, New Jersey. Other survivors include her mother, Betty (Gage) DeKeyser, her two brothers, Bill (Peg) DeKeyser and Jim (Kino) DeKeyser , all of Manchester, Iowa, her son-in-law, Don Rotunno of Clifton, New Jersey and her former husband, Doug Bruns of Redmond, Oregon. Survivors also include her beloved grandchildren, Alexander and Andrew Bruns of Phoenix, Arizona. JoAnn was preceded in death by her father, Joe in 1997.
Born February 25, 1940, JoAnn was raised and schooled in Manchester, Iowa. She enjoyed participation in 4-H, cheerleading and singing in the school and church choir. After graduating high school, JoAnn moved to Cedar Rapids and attended Paris Cosmetology School and upon graduating became a beautician. After marrying in 1959, JoAnn spent the next 20 years raising her two children doing all the things a loving mother does; baking cookies for school, acting as Cub Scout den mother, supporting her daughter in school plays and supporting her son at every baseball game. She was a dedicated “baseball mom” long before “soccer moms” ever existed!
JoAnn worked for a time at Seifert’s followed by 10 years of employment at Rockwell Collins. Wanting to try something new, JoAnn followed her daughter out to Tempe, AZ where she worked at ASU and then InterTel. Too much heat and too far from her folks, JoAnn returned to Iowa in the late 80’s. Her natural creativity and hard work ethic led to the creation of her own home care business called Classic Care. Having her own business gave her great satisfaction but she took most of her enjoyment from the people she met and worked with. The last ten years of her life she worked part-time for Hallmark where she enjoyed good times and conversation with co-workers and regular customers.
Though her emphysema made things more difficult to do, it never slowed her down. JoAnn loved to go antiquing, make visits to her daughter in New Jersey, attend the concert series here in Cedar Rapids, babysit, travel and tend to her garden. Her idle time was not very idle either as she was always up for a good book, a game of Scrabble, some bidding on eBay or chatting on the phone with family and friends.

As JoAnn’s favorite color was red we encourage anyone so inclined to wear an item of red.

Please direct any memorials to the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, 315 18th Ave, Hiawatha, Iowa 52233.

Visitation

Service

Family Gathering