Dean Curtis Brunel, of Somerville, was born November 21, 1940 and died on December 21st, 2021 at the age of 81 after a formidable fight with cancer.
He was a practicing attorney, loving father and grandfather and an extraordinarily gifted pianist and composer who loved playing tennis. He grew up surrounded by farmland in East Cazenovia and Nelson, New York, on Brunel Road. He told many stories of 7’ snow drifts and changing huge tires on farm equipment.
Dean started playing the piano when he was 5. When he was a teenager, he led his own jazz band, the musical group the Deansmen. While at Hamilton College, he was a founding member of Hamilton’s first interracial fraternity (the Emerson Literary Society) and honed his world view with studies of philosophy and religion. He also jammed with jazz icon Lionel Hampton whom he invited to his fraternity.
In 1963, he married his love Suzanne Brunel (accomplished opera singer 1941-1998) and had two children Todd and Kyle whom they raised in Wayland, Massachusetts. In his later years, he developed as a composer with guidance from the School of Music at the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. He was also a baritone in the local Armenian Chorus for a number of years.
A graduate of Boston College Law School, Dean became a member of the Bar Association in 1969. After a short time with the law firm Nutter, McClennen and Fish, he practiced law as a sole practitioner for more than 40 years until his terminal illness became too much and he was forced to retire in October of this year.
When Dean passed, he was surrounded by his loving children and his sister Alex in his home of 28 years in Somerville, MA. Dean is survived by his children Todd and Kyle, his sister Alex and 4 grandchildren, Cobalt, Luca, Cypris and Mina.
A memorial service in his honor will be held on February 12 at 11:00 am
at the FRAMINGHAM FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE, RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS , 841 Edmands Road, Framingham, Massachusetts 01701. There will also be a zoom link available upon request by contacting Todd Brunel at [email protected].