Roxanne Bruns, our loving friend, niece, cousin and daughter, born September 19, 1951, to Ralph and Doris Bruns of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, died too soon, on November 6, 2008, in Oakland, California.
Born to a family with deep roots in Ft. Wayne, Roxanne attended New Haven High School (’69) and earned a degree in French from Purdue University.
Roxanne moved to San Francisco in the mid-70's after living in Boston a short time. Her favorite haunts became Stinson Beach, Bolinas, and Harbin Hot Springs; over the years, she also travelled further afield to Hawaii, Mexico and Morocco.
She developed a career in video production at San Francisco's City College, and also worked at KCSM and Hewlett Packard.
About 10 years ago, she switched to a real estate career and became a respected and successful realtor for Prudential and Keller Williams. Her clients often became her friends, and she generously gave real estate and design advice to friends and neighbors. She cared about her community; at one point, she became famous for her campaign against the whistling mufflers!
With Madonna, a gorgeous chow she rescued and brought out west after visiting friends in Florida, she moved to Oakland from SF in the mid-90s. Roxanne had a keen eye for interior design, appreciated elegant fashion, yet had a talent for bargain hunting. She was a history-lover and active member of Oakland Heritage Alliance. Well-read and articulate, she avidly discussed books, plays and movies, and she often attended lectures such as Commonwealth Club events. Sociable and fun-loving, she appreciated good wine and gourmet food. A lover of nature, she hiked as often as she could, and dreamed of living in the country someday.
Roxanne believed strongly that one should try to visualize one’s desired outcome, and also believed in healing through the power of the mind. She practiced gratitude, devoting her last months of life to intensive reading and journaling. Even after becoming ill, she brought to bear that positive focus on her friends' problems.
Roxanne is predeceased by her mother Doris, survived by her father, Ralph Bruns of Castro Valley, Uncle and Aunt Kenneth and Illief of Ft. Wayne, Uncle Don Bruns of Annapolis, Cousins Diane and Neal Bruns of Ft. Wayne, and Doug Bruns, of Fulton, MD. Her caregiving circle included women friends from a longstanding book club, former work places, close neighbors who became friends from the three places she lived in Oakland, and other dear ones back east. Rox was so grateful to her friends, and caregivers of Heavenly Home Care, who enabled her to stay at home till the end.
A celebration of life, with Christian Science readings and other sharing, will take place Friday, January 30, 2009, at 5:30 pm in Oakland. For information, please email eodza@comcast.net or call 510-638-5446. Donations to Women's Cancer Resource Center (www.wcrg.org) or Humane Society are preferred.
11 comments:
http://digg.com/comedy/The_Whistle_s_Go_Wooooo!_Classic_Oakland_Car_Modifications#
Roxanne was temporarily famous for going on TV news (see clip!) to say the muffler whistle tips in our East Oakland neighborhood were driving her mad. And all the rest of us, too. They were finally made illegal partly due to her making a fuss about it. So she's our hero! The character in this video became a cult figure.
I had broadcasting classes with Roxanne at KCSF at City College of San Francisco in 1978 and 1979. I used to "attack" hug her once in a while. I wish all my classmates were as nice as she was.
I will really miss Roxanne and will cherish the memories I have of her patience, humor and beauty. A friend recommended her as our real estate broker and she helped us get into a house from our downtown Oakland condo. The whole thing sort of freaked me out, and she was right there with us every step of the way to explain everything and encourage us. Then, wouldn't you know it, two years later she helped us move over to SF into a great flat that we bought. What a great person for us all to learn from.
Love,
Jerry Simas
I met Roxanne when she was an editor (of 1" video tape-!) at KCSM. She was one of the few people there who appreciated my efforts, and I came to appreciate hers when we began editing programs together. Once, we had 20 minutes to get a program on the air, and still had several places where we had to add music. We divided the places by the time, determined we had something like 2 minutes and some-odd seconds for each edit, and zoomed through our high speed obstacle course together. We (I should say she, as she did all the work) got that program on the air with seconds to spare. It was exhilarating.
She was a trooper, creative and driven, with a life view that I have tried to blend with my own, in the hope of achieving something of the peacefulness she seemed to have in going through life.
I miss her.
Shock! I did not know Roxanne was ill. I was about to refer a client to her and found this obit.
I am a Realtor in S.F. and we did a few deals together over the years, and my wife and I had a few lunches with her as friends. She was a great lady and a good, caring agent. Had I known she was ill, I certainly would have visited her.
It sounds like she was surrounded by great friends and had good care which is a successful ending to a full life. But, sadly, a life too short. I am missing her, too.
Michael Keenan
Roxanne helped me buy my house in Oakland over 20 years ago. I loved her so much that when I started thinking about selling, I looked for her online. I'm so sorry to hear she's passed away. She was a wonderful woman, and a great agent. She really made the process completely painless and wonderful.
As for the cowardly anon above, your mother must be really proud of you...
Googled her because of the Bubb Rubb video I saw years ago. Sad to see she has passed. RIP.
omg i didnt know she died! I just saw that oakland video
WHOOOO WHOOOOOOOOO! thats so sad :(
what happened to her if I can ask?
Thanks,
Christopher
CWM030@AOL.COM
and good job on getting those annoying car things banned.
I had long ago lost track of Roxanne Bruns until I did a search. So sorry to hear of her passing. I lived neighbors to her in grade school in Fort Wayne and we would play together often and our parents would take us places, like to get ice cream at Miller's Dairy Barn. We became good friends. I often wondered what became of her.
I would love to hear more. She struggled against cervical cancer. And lost. I believe there was a long period when she was not getting checkups or treatment. When she finally sought treatment, the remission was short, maybe a year.
Sorry to see she passed. Was the cancer caused by Bubb Rub’s whistle tips!?!
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