First mayor of Rio Rancho dies

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) - David Bruening, the first mayor elected after Rio Rancho incorporated as a city, died Tuesday at the age of 92.

He was in failing health from congestive heart failure and other medical issues, according to his family.

Bruening, a native of Portage, Pa., served in the Army in World War II as a radio sergeant making combat parachute jumps in the South Pacific and later served in the Korean War before retiring as a sergeant major in 1967. After a second career in computer programming, he and his wife Ruth, who survives him, retired to the community of Rio Rancho in 1980.

Quickly coming out of retirement, Bruening worked at the University of Albuquerque and became active in community affairs in Rio Rancho. After the successful push to incorporate the growing community with its then-population of 10,000, he was elected its first mayor.

Bruening also is survived by three children. Services are pending.

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Obituary provided by the Bruening family:

David Edmond Bruening, 92, died peacefully at his home in Rio Rancho Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2010, with his wife Ruth and daughters Sandra and Nikki by his side.

Details of a memorial service are pending.

Dave was born July 30, 1918 in Portage, Pennsylvania. Working with the gas company in Detroit, Michigan before the outbreak of WWII, Dave was drafted in the Army and volunteered for airborne training. He served as a radio sergeant with 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945, making two combat parachute jumps in New Guinea and the airborne assault on Corregidor Island, in the Philippines.

Following the war, Dave returned briefly to Detroit where he and Ruth were married in February, 1946. Shortly after the wedding, the young couple moved to San Francisco, California where Dave studied communications and Ruth delivered the first of their four children, son David.

In 1947, Dave returned to service in the Army as a Master Sergeant with the newly formed Army Security Agency, and was stationed at Two Rock Ranch Station north of San Francisco. Daughter Sandra was born in 1949, just before Dave was reassigned to Camp Pickett, Virginia. A brief assignment to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where daughter Deborah was born, was followed by Dave’s deployment to Korea in 1951.

In 1952, the family joined Dave when he was assigned to Okinawa, Japan. Returning to the states in late 1953, Dave was assigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where daughter Bonnie was born in 1954. From 1954 to 1956, Dave performed duties as a company first sergeant at the Army Security Agency’s headquarters, Arlington Hall Station, Virginia. He was then assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska, where he was the Sergeant Major, Army Security Agency, Alaska.

Returning to Arlington Hall in 1962 as the headquarters’ operations Sergeant Major, Dave was assigned in 1964 to Army Security Agency units in Turkey and Germany as the post Sergeant Major. Dave returned a final time to Arlington Hall in 1966, retiring from the Army in 1967.

He was the recipient of the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart medals, along with several medals of commendation and meritorious service. Along with the insignia of the 503d on his right sleeve, Dave proudly wore the Combat Infantryman’s Badge with star for WWII and Korea, and master parachutist wings with three gold stars in recognition of his combat jumps.

Following retirement, Dave pursued a second career as a computer programmer and systems analyst. He and Ruth moved to Miami, Florida in 1970, and for the next ten years, Dave designed, programmed, and installed commercial data handling systems. In 1980, on vacation in Albuquerque, Dave and Ruth fell in love with the Land of Enchantment, bought a home in a small community called Rio Rancho and made plans for retirement.

In New Mexico, retirement ended when Dave became the head of the Computer Sciences Department at the University of Albuquerque, and at the same time became active in community affairs. He and Ruth both served on the committee that incorporated the City of Rio Rancho, and was a driving force in the creation of the Rio Rancho Department of Public Safety, the Department of Parks of Recreation, the Rio Rancho Public School System, and bringing many businesses to the community, including Intel.

In March of 1982 David Bruening became the first elected mayor of Rio Rancho. He worked tirelessly and passionately with the vision and foresight to lay the foundation for New Mexico’s fastest growing city, forging strong alliances with Governor Anaya and Mayor Kinney, personally visiting the mayors of every city in New Mexico to insure recognition of the important contribution Rio Rancho would provide for the state’s future. Dave served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments and was on the Executive Board of the New Mexico Municipal League for several years.

At his 90th birthday celebration, his son commented on the extraordinarily full and