Fred Bruner

Fred Bruner likes to say that he's "the luckiest man alive" but perhaps he's proof that, with a positive attitude, you can make your own luck. The son of a strict Baptist minister, Bruner ran away in his teens in the midst of the Great Depression. He lived on the streets and "rode the rails" cross country, hopping rides on freight trains with "hobos" and other folks hit hard by the economic times. Bruner eventually came home and reluctantly went to Oklahoma Military Academy. He went on to graduate from Baylor University and then SMU Law School. Although he was blind in one eye from a childhood accident, Bruner enlisted in the Signal Corps, and served his country during World War II. After the war, Fred met the love of his life, Joy Jean Groves. Together they created a wonderful life consisting of a huge family and a wide array of friends. Fred, and his brilliant legal career, has always been at the center of it all. Bruner's life is full of wonderful stories, epic characters, and frequent brushes with American history. As one of the top criminal defense lawyers in Dallas, Fred Bruner's clients ranged from reckless drivers all the way to high profile murderers, including the infamous Jack Ruby. To Fred Bruner work was never just work - there were always new people to meet and new people who needed help.Fred still lives in his Highland Park home where, despite diminishing health, he wakes up each morning armed with the two things that have served him best in his life-a sunny disposition and his preacher's son's ability to tell a great story.