Services Set For Bruno Bury, Father Of Mayor Sandra Bury

OAK LAWN, IL — Visitation and services for long-time Oak Lawn resident Bruno P. Bury, father of Mayor Sandra Bury, have been set for this Wednesday and Thursday, May 8 and May 9, respectively. Bury passed away early Sunday morning of natural causes. He was one month shy of his 99th birthday.

Visitation will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, at Thompson Kuenster Funeral Home, 5570 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn. Prayers will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 9 at Thompson Kuenster, followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. at St. Linus Church, 10300 Lawler Ave, Oak Lawn. In lieu of flowers, the Bury family is asking that memorials be made in Bruno Bury's name to Park Lawn Services, 10822 S. LaPorte Ave., Oak Lawn, IL 60453 to the attention of the Development Office. Donations may also be made online.

Bury was born June 19, 1920, in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood. He often regaled his children and grandchildren with tales of his boyhood, including witnessing the great Union Stockyard Fire of 1934, during which Bury ran to the pens and opened the gates to let the cattle escape. To get the family through the Depression, Bury’s mother ran a boarding house. His father and brothers helped keep everyone clothed and fed.

He was a proud graduate of the Tilden High Class of 1939. Bury was active in the Marie McDowell Settlement House, where he met his future wife, Helen Katie Wainauskis. During World War II, Bury rose to the rank of staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he served as an airplane mechanic in North Africa and Italy from 1942 to the war’s end in 1945. As a veteran, Bury faithfully attended the village’s Memorial and Veterans Day events.

Bury married his childhood sweetheart Helen on Nov. 27, 1952. The couple had five children: Dorothy Bury Shaw (Steve), Kathleen (Jeff) Lewandowski, Robert Bury, Susan (Augie) Otero and Sandra. He was blessed with seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

He worked at Western Electric for 42 years, starting on the factory floor and finishing in the front office with the "college guys." He retired in 1983. While at Western Electric, Bury was at the forefront of the burgeoning information technology industry.

At age 90, Bury started Facebook and taught himself to type. He was famous for his sense of humor, his helpfulness and his basement, which had anything a neighbor might need in three sizes and four colors. His neighbors knew to "ask Bruno," and he was happy to share his finds with anyone in need.

"He was a few weeks shy of 99 years old and left us with an incredible legacy of love, kindness, helpfulness and humor," Mayor Bury said. "We won the lottery with him as a father and friend."

Arrangements are pending. More information will be added when it becomes available.