Barbara Jean Brunner

Barbara Jean Brunner was born on May 15, 1945 in Durham, NC and passed away on December 4, 2024 in Raleigh, NC. Barbara was raised in Roanoke Rapids, NC by her grandmother for the first ten years of her life and then moved to Richmond, VA to live with her mother. She married young and quickly had four children whom she loved fiercely but struggled to financially support. When her marriage ended shortly after the birth of her fourth child, and with only a small amount of monthly child support, she got a job as a secretary at the MCV School of Dentistry and did the best she could working fulltime to raise her family. Over the years Barbara endured the unimaginable helplessness of losing her second born daughter to domestic violence and the agonizing stress of having her firstborn struggle with substance abuse.

While Barbara's professional career was spent as secretary to the head of the dental school, most of her personal life was spent being a full time caregiver for the people who needed her most. In her middle age she stepped up to finish raising three of her grandchildren. She attended her share of choral performances and baseball games while also keeping pace with the ever expanding challenges of raising a family and navigating public education.

She retired early to move back to NC when her last grandchild was born to her youngest daughter. It was in Raleigh where she found rest and tranquility with a tight circle of friends and family and from within a safe community.

Barbara loved to cook, had a wide ranging taste in music, enjoyed thrifting and a good cup of coffee. She conversed heart-to-heart, so if you were avoiding your truth, she was not the person to ask. She held people to standards, empowering them to see the merciful differences between right and wrong. She was loyal, and quick to send a greeting card when you needed it most, and entertained her friends with a quick, sardonic wit.

It was the last few years that she lived her best life.
She built a whole new life in Raleigh being the best grandmother and mother anyone could ask for. While the first half of her life was a struggle, her time in Raleigh was filled with the joy of her last grandchild and the apple of her eye.

She was preceded in death by two daughters, Robin Amadeo and Lannie Schultz and survived by two children, Joseph Brunner and Tammy Brunner. She had four cherished grandchildren, Joshua Schultz, Demi Schultz, Joseph Amadeo and Benjamin Lane and two great grandchildren Jackson and Chayce Schultz.

Her absence will be felt by many.