JOHN T. BRUNS
John T. Bruns, of Macungie, PA and Phillipsburg, NJ, passed away on May 23, 2026 at Mosser Nursing Home in Trexlertown, PA. He was born July 3, 1931 in Milltown, NJ, and was the son of Gustav C. and Lucy A. (Mulvey) Bruns. For 63 years he was the husband of the former Margaret E. Johnson, who died in 2018.
John graduated from New Brunswick High School in 1949 and Rutgers University in 1953. He attended both Lehigh University and the University of Missouri as an English graduate assistant.
John began his journalism career in Missouri before joining the former Easton Express in 1956 as a general assignment reporter. He became sports editor in 1963, which he remained until September 1971, when he joined the sports staff at The Home News of New Brunswick.
While with The Home News, he covered college sports and major league baseball in New York and Philadelphia, the NFL Giants, and the NBA Nets. After his retirement in 1993, John continued to do freelance writing for several PA and NJ papers.
John was an honorary lifetime member of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He was on the board and former treasurer of the New Jersey Sports Writers Association, which honored him in 1993.
As a member of Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church of Phillipsburg, where he and Margaret married in 1955, John was a lector and adoration captain. He was a volunteer and member of the board of Phillipsburg Meals on Wheels, as well as a member and former president of Phillipsburg Chapter 4704 AARP. He loved music, reading, fishing and spending time at the Jersey shore.
John is survived by two sons and three daughters: Thomas; Kevin and his wife, Monika; Kathleen and her husband, Dave Bonette; Karen and her partner Mark Bradford; Cynthia and her husband, Patrick Rush; as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
A calling hour will be held on Saturday, May 30, 2026 from 10:45 AM to 11:45 AM at Saint Philip and Saint James Catholic Church, 430 S. Main St., Phillipsburg, NJ, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:45 AM. Interment will then follow at St. Mary Cemetery, Alpha, NJ.