Michelle Bruns
Michelle R. Bruns, 36, Maria Stein, died at 5:39 p.m. June 27, 2013, as the result of an automobile accident west of Celina.
She was born June 18, 1977, in Coldwater, to Donald and Donna Hemmelgarn Rutschilling, who survive in Maria Stein. On Feb. 6, 1999, she married Randy Bruns, who also survives.
Also surviving are two sons, Kendall, 13, and Wesley, 10, and a daughter, Emerson, 6, all at home; three brothers, Greg (Jenny) Rutschilling, Rossford, Aaron Rutschilling, Rossford, and Kevin (Tara) Rutschilling, New Knoxville; mother- and father-in-law, Gene and Jeannie Bruns, brother- and sister-in-law, Kerry (Shelly) Bruns, and sister- and brother-in-law, Vickie (Dave) Obringer, all of Maria Stein; and a stepgrandmother, Dianne Hemmelgarn, North Star.
Deceased are grandparents, Albert and Ruth Hemmelgarn, Bernard and Mary Rutschilling, and stepgrandfather, Ralph Fischer.
She was a 1995 graduate of Marion Local High School, obtained her bachelor of arts and sciences degree from the University of Toledo in 1998, and her masters of business administration degree from Wright State University in 2009. She was employed by Vancrest Healthcare Centers since 2002, where she began her work as director of assisted living in Delphos. After becoming a licensed nursing home administrator in 2004, she served as the administrator of Rest Haven Nursing Home in Greenville, before taking over as administrator at Vancrest's Van Wert facility in 2010.
Her passion was serving on annual medical mission trips to underprivileged countries with Legacy of Healing, a group of physicians whose goal is to promote and enhance physical and spiritual health and healing. Legacy of Healing has adopted the model used by Jesus Christ, showing compassion to those who come for physical healing while sharing the gospel for spiritual healing. Her trips took her to Zambia, Guyana, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, and most recently, Honduras, from where she returned the morning of her untimely death.
She also was active as a member of the Greenville and Van Wert Rotary Clubs, and served on committees and boards of the Darke County United Way and the Mercer County Family Crisis Network. She was a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Maria Stein, where she was the current vice president of the St. Anne's Ladies Sodality.
