Christopher Bruni

Christopher Thomas Bruni, age 22, loving son of Jeff and Angela Bruni, unexpectedly passed away on July 31, 2022.  He was born on June 19, 2000, in Gulfport, Mississippi.

He is survived by his parents; his sister Dr. Catie Lee Bruni; and his older brother, Jeff Bruni, Jr., as well as paternal grandparents, Dr. Ron and Lee Bruni; maternal grandmother, Charlene Dudley; aunts/uncles, Dr. Tim and Tracie Bruni (their children, Colton, Cooper, Lexi, and Cohen); Damian and Jennifer Bruni (their children, Xavier and Blaise); Chrissy Bruni Lane and her husband, Charlie (their children, Charlie, Jr. and Ezra); Rodney and Ellen Dudley (their children, Ross, Chase and Tye and their families); Ron and Dr. Sue Dudley Cunningham (children, Dr. Bryant Walker and Alana Walker and their families); Dr. Dava Sue Cleveland; and Anna Marie Lenz (and her children).

Christopher attended Bayou View Elementary and Middle Schools and graduated from Gulfport High School in 2018 with a 3.9 GPA and class rank of 5/375. While at Gulfport High School, he served as Student Body President, President of the Interact and Spanish Clubs, Vice-President of the National Honor Society and Key Club. He was a 4-year letterman on the GHS varsity men’s soccer team. In his Senior year, Christopher was selected as Co-Team Captain, and went on to win the MHSAA State Championship, was voted Most Valuable Player and received the Ray Bishop Award for the highest GPA. He was also selected to the State Association of Coaches Varsity Boys All-Star South Team and the Region 6A Varsity Team. He served on the City of Gulfport Mayor’s Youth Council and was selected to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), where he later was chosen to serve as a counselor from 2018-2022.  Christopher began playing organized soccer, his favorite sport, at age four (4) with the Roadrunners rec team and played on numerous select soccer teams with the South Mississippi Soccer Club through his freshman year in college, during which time his select teams won five (5) State Championships. He developed many valuable friendships across the State and the southeast through this sport, including through his five-time selection to the Mississippi Olympic Development team for his age group.

Christopher was also an Eagle Scout, an accomplishment of which he was extremely proud. He was named a State Finalist for the Wendy’s High School Heisman. He was also named “Mr. Interact – Best Overall Male” and Exchange Club Student of the Year for the State of Mississippi in his Senior year and awarded the Samsung Scholarship Award for Mississippi. He was inducted into the Gulfport High School Hall of Fame. He enjoyed playing the piano, the violin, and the guitar as well as running, playing soccer tennis, and being with his family and cats.

Christopher went on to attend Millsaps College on academic scholarship, where he majored in Biochemistry. He graduated summa cum laude with honors in May 2022 and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree, having a perfect all-A academic career through high school and college and having passed his final comprehensive examination in biochemistry “with excellence.” His honors thesis (Synthesis of an Allosteric HIV Integrase Inhibitors based on a Pyridine Pharmacohire) was presented during his Senior year and was eventually published.

While in College, he was a four (4) year starter on the Varsity Men’s Soccer Team, two (2) year Senator in the Student Body Association, a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, President of the Millsaps College Republicans, and a member of the Millsaps Rotaract Club.  While in college, and among other awards, he received the Joseph B. Price General Chemistry Award (for the highest GPA in chemistry), the Charles A. Preuss Pre-Medical Scholarship (SAE National Foundation), the Physics Service Award, and the Chemistry Research Award. He was a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa, Sigma Lambda, Alpha Epsilon Delta, and Beta Beta Beta honoraries, and was one of a few from the College tapped into the Phi Beta Kappa Society, the oldest and most prestigious academic honorary in the country. He was further selected into the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program and was accepted into Medical School at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, with his medical school career set to commence August 2022. Christopher and his family are life-long members of St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport.

There will also be a visitation from 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., on Sunday, August 7, 2022, at Riemann Family Funeral Home at 11280 Three Rivers Road in Gulfport. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. James Catholic Church in Gulfport at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 8, 2022, with visitation to take place at the Church starting at 10:00 a.m. The Rite of Committal will follow at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens in Gulfport.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Christopher Thomas Bruni Biochemistry Research Scholarship at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Millsaps can be reached at (601) 974-1007.

Christopher was a devoted son who will be greatly missed and always in the hearts of his family.

Online condolences may be offered at www.riemannfamily.com