Leo Bunce

Dr. Leo Whitney Bunce, age 93, long-time Trufant physician and caregiver, passed away Saturday morning, February 12, 2011 at Schnepp Health Care Center in St. Louis, Michigan with Mary Louise by his side. The son of Dr. Earl P. & Nettie C. (Whitney)Bunce, he was born on April 19, 1917 at Trufant. After graduating from Coral High School as valedictorian in 1935, he attended Central State Teachers College in Mt. Pleasant and then Marquette University Medical School in Milwaukee, graduating in 1942 and following both his grandfather, Dr. Chester W. Bunce, and his father, in a lifetime career in medicine. While interning at Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids he met a student nurse, Mary Louise Bielby and they married on November 22, 1943 in Cadillac. A proud veteran of World War II, Dr. Bunce served in the U.S. Army 35th General Hospital Unit in New Britain and New Guinea and at induction centers in the U.S. He left the Army with the rank of Major in 1946 and returned to the area to practice medicine with his father in Trufant retiring in 1986. He was a member of St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Trufant, and held life memberships at the Trufant Masonic Lodge No. 456 F&AM,. Order of the Eastern Star Chapter No. 383, Scottish Rite-Valley of Grand Rapids, the Odd Fellows, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7192 in Sand Lake, and the Saladin Shrine Temple. Professionally, Dr. Bunce was a life member of the Montcalm-Ionia County Medical Society, the Michigan Medical Society, the American Medical Society, and the Medical School of Wisconsin. He enjoyed deer hunting, sailing,photography, and golf. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Mable Virginia Rose. Surviving are his wife of 67 years, Mary Louise Bunce of St. Louis; their three sons, John Bunce of Elwell, Gregory & Carol Bunce of Channing, and Mark & Melodie Bunce of St. Louis; two grandchildren, Charles Bunce and Ashley Bunce, both of St. Louis; and two step-grandchildren, Crystal Calkin and Corey Calkin, both of Channing. Visitation is Tuesday from 4-8 p.m. at the Christiansen Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 511 S. Franklin Street, Greenville, where Masonic ceremonies, conducted by Trufant Lodge No. 456 F&AM, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday at St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, with the Rev. Aaron I. Sorrels III officiating. Burial, with full military honors, will take place in the spring at Trufant Cemetery. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Leo Bunce, please visit our flower store.