Bruno Speth

Bruno Speth, 84, of Paramus, NJ, passed away on June 27, 2022. Devoted husband to Johanna Speth of Paramus, NJ. Perennial helpful father to daughters Christine Burkhardt of Middlesex, NJ, Monika Speth Richardson and son-in-law Reed Richardson of Ridgewood, NJ, and "bonus dad" to Patty Daddona, of Raleigh, NC.  Loving and eternally patient grandfather — "Opa" — to Johanna and Brian Burkhardt, Graham and Wesley Richardson. Cherished twin brother of Robert Speth of South Africa, and Rita Mohr of Germany, dear brother-in-law of Netti Speth, widow of Edgar, who preceded Bruno in passing. Bruno will also be greatly missed his many other cousins, friends, and neighbors.

Bruno was born in Grossheubach, Germany, and, at 24, immigrated to the United States for a better life — which he found. While living in New York City, he met his eventual wife, Johanna Weigang, a fellow German immigrant, and they soon settled in Flushing, Queens, to start their family. A few years later, the family moved to New Jersey, where they first lived in Sayreville and then Warren. In 2006, they settled in an adult community in Easton, PA, before moving to the BrightView community in Paramus in late 2021. Bruno spent almost all of his career working at and then running scrap metal recycling plants in the New York City area. To say he was handy would be a grand understatement. He had a life-long passion for fixing, creating, and building all manner of items, as well as collecting the many tools necessary for his projects. Bruno's love of repurposing and giving new life to things — in particular, heavy, metal ones —was renowned and among his many great qualities. His favorite pastimes included walking, gardening, listening to classical music, traveling around his adopted home country and the world, playing canasta with his wife, frequenting (and always working on) his family's cabin in Pine Plains, NY, and bird-watching, the latter of which involved a longtime running feud with devious, birdseed-stealing squirrels and deer. 

The viewing took place Wednesday, June 29, at the Feeney Funeral Home, Ridgewood. Cremation private. As Bruno would've wanted, his pacemaker and the metal screws implanted in his feet after a fall years ago will be recycled.