The third generation of the Heinrich Bruns family to remain in Barnes County included families of Henry R. and Tjebbe.
Henry T. Bruns, oldest son of H. R., married Katie Noeske, and they lived on their farm in Alta Township until 1942 when they moved to the H. R. home-place in Noltimier Township. They have two daughters and one son: Kathleen (Mrs. Dick Winter) of rural Valley City; Shirley (Mrs. Ted Mahaffey) of Bradenton, Florida; and Henry Fred, Jr.
Henry T. and his family are community-minded and church-minded. His activities have included being a director of the Barnes County Cooperative Creamery, the Hi-Line Elevator, the Sheyenne Memorial Hospital and Manor, and the Hillside Cemetery Association. He has also served on the Administrative Board of the Salem Church and on a number of men's club and building committees of the church throughout the years.
Henry T. won the Outstanding Conservation Award in 1957, a tribute to his good farming practices.
Clarence Bruns (1901-1969), second son of H. R., was a farmer all his life until ill health forced his retirement in 1964, at which time Dick and Kathleen Winter purchased his farm and he moved to Valley City.
He was a director of the North Dakota Winter Show and supervisor of the crop displays for fully a decade. He also directed livestock judging teams on tours to Bowman, Montana, Chicago and other regional expositions. Besides instigating a number of conservation practices on his own farm, he worked steadily and conscientiously as a member of the Soil Conservation Committee, to encourage other farmers to adopt ways of saving their soil. His efforts had a statewide impact. He was a Director of the American National Bank of Valley City until his death in 1969.
Youngest son of H. R. was Wesley. He was a graduate of NDSU and did postgraduate work at Ithica, New York. Wesley farmed with his brothers for several years in Noltimier Township. Due to ill health, he moved to California where he worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad as a Mathematics Engineer until his retirement in 1973.
Some of the girls in these families attended Valley City Normal School and taught in the area - Henrietta Bates at Noltimier and Grand Prairie; Rozella Haugen, in Raritan Township before she and her husband left for Bremerton, Washington, where they both were employed in the city school system; and Gertrude Risser, in District No. 23, Meadowlake Township.
Tjebbe and Carrie Bruns' sons remained in farming in Barnes County. John Bruns (1896-1971) married Ethel Johnson, teacher in the Noltimier School. She continued her teaching in various locations during their farming years. John replaced his father as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Salem Church in 1948, a position he held until he moved to Arizona. He also served on various Farmers Union boards. His grandson, Jack Bruns, son of the late Howard and Lola Metcalf Bruns, is, at the time of this writing, working with a neighbor on the very acreage that was the original homestead of Pioneer Heinrich.
Tjebbe's second son, Fred, married Irene Aastad. He farmed in Cuba Township, taught Vocational Agriculture at Valley City High School, and was County Agricultural Agent at New Rockford, before leaving for Tacoma, Washington.
They have two daughters: Phyllis (Mrs. Reuben Gehring) and Barbara (Mrs. Arlan Williams).
Tjebbe and Carries third son, Harold, remained on his parents' farm. He married Edna Davidson of Valley City. They have two children, Marlys (Mrs. Kenneth Arnold) of West Palm Beach, Florida; and Douglas, who farmed with his father until he left for work in aircraft mechanics in Lakeland, Florida. During Harold's years on the farm, he became involved in school board activities and served on the Federal Land Bank Board. He and Edna now live in Lakeland, Florida.
Tjebbe and Carrie Bruns' daughter Verna and her husband, Eldon Taylor, also live in the Sunshine State, namely, Apollo Beach, Florida. For many years they were part-owners of the Dario Drive-In in Valley City. Later, they owned and operated a similar business in Jamestown. Their two children are likewise in the East - Cheryl Stiff, formerly in Orlando, Florida, now in Pennsylvania; and Roger, in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is with the IBM Corporation.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 39
The fourth generation of the Bruns family to remain in Barnes County consists of Kathleen and Henry Fred, Jr. of the Henry T. Bruns family line. Kathleen married Dick Winter, and they have four children; R. Steven, Dianne, Debra and Mark. Henry F. married Sandra Meyer of Valley City, and they have two sons; Henry Wade and Dain.
A young family man, Henry, Jr. has already started to carry on the family tradition of community involvement. He has been president of the local chapter of the Farm Bureau, and presently is clerk of Noltimier Township. He is a Director of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Valley City. He was a partner in the first liquid distribution plant in Valley City. In the rural Methodist congregation, he teaches and witnesses. He, too, is a good steward of the soil and continues to farm the land wisely as his forefathers did.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 39
There are four Bruns boys who make up the fifth generation of the Heinrich Bruns family in Barnes County. They are John Thomas, a college student, and Robert Howard, a senior high school pupil, sons of Howard and Lola Bruns; and Henry Wade, a sixth grader, also Dain Evan, a second grader, sons of Henry F. and Sandra Bruns.
Henry Wade, twelve years of age, is the fifth generation of the Bruns family to carry the name Henry; and he and his brother are the fourth generation to live in the same house on the same farm.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 39