Elizabeth "Betty" Ann Bruno

Elizabeth “Betty” Bruno October 15, 1926 - December 19, 2023 Bruno, Betty (nee Schulze) of Des Peres/Kirkwood passed away peacefully on December 19, 2023 at the age of 97. She is survived by her loving husband Carlo, her daughters Maria and Teresa (John) and her four grandchildren: Bella, Evie and Gia Borbonus, and Michael Tramble. Betty was born at her parents’ home on October 15, 1926 on their farm in Washington, Missouri. She was one of three girls born to Thecla and Henry Schulze. She was preceded in death by her sisters, Mary Louise who passed away at age 3 from pneumonia and Dr. Irene Schulze who passed away in 2021 at age 92. Betty attended Ziegenmeyer School, a one-room schoolhouse in Washington, Missouri. Betty graduated from St. Francis Borgia High School and earned her BS in Chemistry from Le Clerc College. She and Irene were the first generation in their family to graduate from college. She then worked in a lab in Clayton, Missouri and loved the field of science and health care. She married Carlo Bruno, whom she met on a golf driving range, on January 25, 1964. This January, she would’ve celebrated her 60th wedding anniversary with Carlo. Betty stayed at home with her two daughters for many years while they attended school. She taught them to play the piano and other instruments, to sew, hike, and to love nature. She volunteered in a variety of areas for many decades including: Kirkwood School District, Girl Scouts and her parish, St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church. Betty helped fundraise for AIM (Association of Instrumental Music) program at Kirkwood and also taught reading through the Great Books Program for 8th graders at North Kirkwood Middle School. She was a teacher during mass on Sundays for children through Liturgy of the Word. Betty returned to the workforce for a few years combining her love of helping others by typing books in braille on a braille machine and managing the Midwestern Braille Volunteers office for years. She enjoyed reading, playing the piano, traveling with her family and husband Carlo, learning German, playing golf, gardening, bird watching, growing strawberries and new potatoes at the farm, researching her family history, sewing, designing her children’s dresses and coats, and quilting. She loved to bake apple pies with a homemade Crisco crust and would bring her delicious desserts to birthdays and special occasions. Betty was independent, practical, bright, and a force when things needed doing, but also polite, kind and quiet in nature as well as a friend to every and anyone. Many of her students remember her fondly as “someone who accepted me for who I was and was always kind to me.” Betty and her family have always had a love of nature and being outdoors and prioritizing preservation of land for the future. She donated 20 acres of woods to the Ozark Land Trust in Washington, Missouri. Betty remained active with the Tuesday St. Gerard Majella Quilting Group through most of her life, sitting next to the quilting frame well into her 90s. She designed and stitched together hundreds of quilts in her decades of quilting and many were auctioned off at the annual Fall Festival at the church. She enjoyed making cancer caps with her quilting friends to help those find comfort while healing. Betty will best be remembered as a generous, considerate, independent, bright, science-minded woman devoted to her family, friends, church, and public school. She found joy in raising up and supporting others. Her grandchildren have hundreds of fond memories with their Grandma including holiday dinners, laughter around board games, learning to sew on her sewing machine and traveling adventures to the beach. Services will be held at St. Gerard Majella Catholic Church in Kirkwood Wednesday, January 10 at 10 a.m. (doors will open at 9 a.m. for visitation - please join us). Everyone is invited. Final Resting Place: Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, MO In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in her honor to: World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Mo., St. Gerard Majella Parish in Kirkwood, Mo., or just do something kind for someone.