Gary James Brunner

A graveside service for Gary James Brunner, 62, Palouse, was held Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, at the Greenwood Cemetery in Palouse at 1 p.m. A memorial service will be Saturday, Dec. 29, at 11 a.m. at the Palouse Federated Church with Pastor Corey Laughary officiating

Mr. Brunner died late the evening of Sunday, Dec. 16, at his home from an apparent heart attack.

Born Oct. 29, 1956, in Saginaw, Mich., to James and Doris Brunner, he attended schools in Michigan and graduated from high school in 1974. He joined the United States Coast Guard on Aug. 5, 1974, and was discharged July 1, 1978. He continued on inactive duty until Aug. 4, 1980.

He and Cheri McKindley were married April 2, 1977, in Lynnwood, Wash., and they made their home in Edmonds. After his Coast Guard service, Gary attended college in Port Angeles where he received a bachelor's degree and became a registered nurse in 1985.

The couple moved to Nine Mile Falls and he worked at the Veteran's Medical Center in Spokane as an Intensive Care Unit Nurse. During this period, he built the first family home. Later they moved to Long Beach where Gary worked at different medical facilities and built his second family home. He was a man of many talents including carpentry, playing various musical instruments, homeschooling his girls, raising animals and painting.

When his girls moved to Pullman to go to WSU, he and Cheri decided to move to Palouse in 2008 and built a third family home. He also worked at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax for two years.

He attended the Palouse Federated Church.

Survivors include his wife Cheri; two daughters, Alana (Doug) Hunterm and Emily (Shawn) Feehly; his mother, Doris Brunner, and two sisters, Holly Schaeffer and Dawn Brunner–Chaffee.

http://www.kramercares.com