The Colorado high school basketball community is reeling from the death Sunday of Dennis Bruns, one of six Colorado coaches who surpassed 500 victories and a veteran who coached six state championship teams in the past 11 seasons.
Bruns, 68, died of a heart attack, according to Evangelical Christian Academy athletic director Don Steiner. Bruns, a science teacher at the small Presbyterian-founded school in Colorado Springs, led the Eagles to consecutive Class 2A boys titles and 41 victories in succession.
“Basketball’s our biggest sport, and a lot of it was because of him,” Steiner said. “He touched a lot of lives.”
Bruns had a 135-31 record at ECA, 540-133 overall. Better known as head coach of the Class 4A Lamar girls, Bruns’ Savages teams won four consecutive state titles from 1995-98.
His memorial service is Friday at 10 a.m. at Village Seven Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs. According to the school, a graveside service will be at 2 p.m. at Olinger Chapel Hill Cemetery in Littleton.
At the Bruns family’s request, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dennis E. Bruns Memorial Fund to benefit ECA.
Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-820-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
