Kerry Bruns

Kerry Frances Bruns,

47, of Minot, ND, left this

world surrounded by her

loving family on January

25, 2022, at Trinity

Health.

Kerry Frances White

came into this world on

March 21, 1974, the

daughter of Richard F.

and Pamela J. (Gallivan)

White, at Beaumont Hos-

pital in Royal Oak, Michi-

gan. Kerry lived in Michi-

gan for 7 years before

moving to Tampa Bay,

Florida. At age 11, the

Whites moved to Minot,

ND where Kerry spent her

formative years and gra-

duated from Minot High

School in 1992. She furth-

ered her education by at-

tending Minot State

University.

Trent fell in love with

Kerry’s smile, spirit, and

infectious laugh in 1994

and they were married a

year later on June 28 fol-

lowing a whirlwind court-

ship and romance. The

couple made their home

in Minot where their

daughters Kacey and

Kaitlyn were born and at-

tended school. Kerry was

a strong and independent,

yet incredibly caring

mother and wife who was

endlessly devoted to sup-

porting her girls and Trent

in all parts of their lives.

One of Kerry’s greatest

joys was becoming

“G-MA” to Tommy and

Henley. Kerry began

working from home short-

ly after Tommy was born,

which unexpectedly gave

her an opportunity to lean

into her new title and

help Kaitlyn navigate the

challenges of parenting

two small children. Kerry

and her husband were to-

gether for almost 27 years

and were a passionate lov-

ing couple.

Kerry loved the out-

doors, the sun, water, a

good magazine and red

wine. She and her family

enjoyed years of memor-

able moments on Lake

Sakakawea – boating, fish-

ing, water skiing, and gril-

ling amazing food. She

loved the water from the

time she was young, rem-

iniscing about her back-

yard swimming pool in

Florida, and spending

time in her blowup pool

and hot tub when she

couldn’t be on the boat at

the lake. Kerry and Trent

loved the Miami Dolphins

and would spend leisure-

ly Sunday afternoons at

the Lucky Strike, often

with their girls, Kacey and

Kaitlyn, who always en-

joyed being with their

parents. Kerry was espe-

cially close to her sister

and mother with whom

she spoke almost weekly,

never letting the miles put

any kind of distance in

their relationships. Kerry

inherited a strong work

ethic and sense of loyalty

from her parents, and was

devastated by the recent

losses of both her father

and brother, Richard F.

White and Richard A.

White.

Through the years, Ker-

ry worked as a Call Center

Supervisor for Choice

Hotels, Annuity New

Business Supervisor at

ING financial services,

and as a Regulatory

Analyst then later Regula-

tory Specialist at Hess

Corporation, where she

was greatly valued by all

of her colleagues for her

knowledge, funny and

comforting nature, and

willingness to help in any

situation. Kerry cared dee-

ply for people and built

professional and personal

relationships throughout

her career with a unique

ability to read a room and

communicate with a look

or quick quip; she will

forever be remembered as

one of the unique people

who could genuinely

“make everybody feel like

a somebody.”

Kerry had multiple hob-

bies including working in

her garden, walking on

her treadmill, crafting del-

icious home cooked meals

for her family, or simply

playing card games or

board games with her

family especially Yahtzee.

Kerry had a passion (or

weakness, depending on

who you ask) for animals,

adopting and owning

numerous dogs and cats

throughout the years. This

passion was passed on to

her daughter Kaitlyn, who

also volunteered Kerry to

rescue/adopt animals on

occasion. Kerry worked

on homes built by Habitat

For Humanity throughout

the years and volunteered

annually for the Magic

Day of Giving and Back-

pack Buddies. She had an

incredible memory for de-

tails and shared hilarious

stories of her “mall hair”

and cruising in her Toyota

Corolla on Broadway with

friends. These friendships

were the beginning of

those she maintained for

her whole life, almost

magically able to pick up

with any friend where

they left off after any

amount of time.

Kerry will be deeply

and tragically missed by

her family and friends for

the rest of their lives; may

all who knew her live dai-

ly her legacy of kindness,

selflessness, and humor.

She is survived in life

by her husband of 27

years, Trent L. Bruns;

daughters, Kacey P.

Bruns, Kaitlyn J. Bruns

(Hunter Bakke); grand-

children, Thomas H. Rior-

dan and Henley R. Bruns,

all of Minot; mother,

Pamela J. White, Gor-

donsville, VA; uncle, Rev.

William A. White, Hud-

son, NY; sister, Tara (Wil-

liam H. III) Carothers,

Fort Meade, MD; nieces

and nephews, William F.

Carothers (Hannah

Blackwell), Fallon, NV,

Rachel E. Carothers, Lake

Monticello, VA, Julia (Dil-

lon) Tisch; and great-

nephews, Liam and Levi

Tisch, Rancho Mission,

CA.

She was preceded in

death by her father,

Richard F. White and her

brother, Richard A. White

Mass of Christian Buri-

al: Thursday, February 3,

at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of

Grace Catholic Church,

Minot.

Visitation: Tuesday,

February 1, 2022, from

3:00 to 7:00 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot.

Vigil Prayer Service:

Tuesday at 7 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot.

Memorials: are pre-

ferred to Souris Valley

Animal Shelter.

The service will be

livestreamed for the pub-

lic to view and can be ac-

cessed by going to the

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home website:

www.thompsonlarson.

com.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at (www.

thompsonlarson.com).