Shelter Island Reporter obituaries: Bruner, Schulze

Paul Bruner, of Shelter Island, died at home on Tuesday, March 21, 2023. He was 81 years old.

Paul was a graphic designer, educator and artist, born in Corydon, Ind., 1941.

He graduated from high school there and received his B.S. degree from Indiana University in 1963. He taught high school art for one year in Indiana. In the summer of 1964 he began his M.F.A. degree study at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York.

In September 1964 he was selected by portfolio competition for a position as a graphic artist in residence for the United States Information Agency (USIA) Exhibition GRAPHIC ARTS USA, traveling to cities in Romania and Poland.

In 1966, Paul was a staff production artist at PUSH PIN Studio, a revolutionary force in graphic design, working with Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. He finished his M.F.A. at Pratt Institute and did freelance book cover design and taught art at the Englewood School for Boys, in Englewood, N.J., until 1970. In 1971, while an instructor at Finch College, he continued his freelance deign work.

From 1972 to 1975, Paul was an art director for Deiner-Hauser-Greenthal, directing print campaigns for Hollywood movie advertising. Agency clients included Paramount Pictures, 20th-Century Fox, Universal Studios and others. In 1976 and 1977 Paul worked for the Loews Corporation, first as a corporate art director, then as director of advertising for Loews Hotels. 

Paul did freelance 3-dimensional illustration for OpEd pages of The New York Times. In 1976 Paul designed a Filenes shopping bag, celebrating the American Bicentennial for the Boston retail store.

Paul finalized his career as a New York art director in 1978, when he was an associate art director for Avon Books. He directed Avon’s trade list and some mass market romance paperbacks.

From September 1979 to July 2007 Paul was a visual arts professor at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Initially he taught graphic design.

Paul was awarded his Ed.D from the Rutgers Graduate school of Education in 1999. He continued to teach until 2007. Paul retired to Shelter Island where he wrote, made art and was an active participant in the Island’s Poetry Roundtable.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Virginia, of Shelter Island; his son Ross, of Shelter Island; two granddaughters, Charlotte Bruner and Lauren Bruner who live in Monaco; a nephew Gene Windell of Jasper, Ind.; and niece Norma Lincoln, of Ramsey, Ind..

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 3, at 11 a.m. at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church on Shelter Island.

The Shelter Island Funeral Home is serving the family.

Virginia H. Schulze

This is in loving memory of our mother, Virginia H. Schulze, who passed away on April 15, 2020.

Virginia was the loving wife of Heinz Schulze and devoted mother of Stephen and Scott. She is deeply missed by her family and many friends. She loved living on Long Island, and especially, the last 35 years on Shelter Island.

Virginia was born on January 24, 1925, in Jamaica, N.Y. to her proud parents, Walter Pierrepont and Marie (nee Bruggeman) Hamilton. After Virginia graduated from Oceanside High School, she went on to graduate with a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University.

While attending Ohio Wesleyan, she fell in love and married James C. Geiger, who was in recovery from wounds while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II. They had their first son, Stephen. To make up missed classes at Ohio Wesleyan, Virginia was one of the first in the country to take colleges courses via correspondence.

After her second son, Scott, was born, Virginia earned a Master’s degree in Education, and then, when the boys were in school, she taught 2nd grade for over 20 years in Stony Brook, and then in the Three Village Public School District in Setauket.

Virginia was preceded in death by her brother, her parents, her first husband, James Geiger, her second husband, Arthur Hanson, and her third husband, Heinz Schulze. Virginia left behind her son, Stephen and his wife Gay of Yorktown, Va.; her son Scott and his wife Martha of Santa Rosa, Calif.; six grandchildren: Jeffrey, Peter, Sarah, Tristan, William, Ian; and four great grandchildren.

Our mother was a kind, caring, and giving person. For example, she invited to her home for the summer a disadvantaged child from the city under the “Fresh Air” program and invited out-of-area youth baseball players and friends in need to stay at her home. She was a woman of strong faith who hosted a weekly Bible study group, was a church elder, and several times read the entire Bible.

She instilled in her children the importance of family, hard work, love of country, faith, and doing what was right. Virginia was a true role model. She was well known around Shelter Island for her daily 6-mile walks that she continued into her 90s. Virginia was especially proud to be a member of the Shelter Island Daughters of the American Revolution and the East End Retired Teachers Association.

The memorial service and internment will be held at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church on April 26, at 3 p.m., with a reception following in the church’s Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, 32 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island, NY 11964

Mother, you will always be in our hearts and we will never forget you. We love and miss you.