JOSEPH S. BRUNO, 83

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Funeral services have been held here for Joseph S. Bruno, founder and chairman emeritus of Bruno's here.

d, was the oldest of eight children -- born Oct. 3, 1912, three years after his parents immigrated here from Sicily. In 1932 he and his family pooled their resources -- $600 -- and opened the first unit of Bruno's Grocery Store in a 20- by 40-foot building. Joseph Bruno was considered head of the business although formal titles were not assigned.

In 1952 Joseph Bruno and his three brothers incorporated their three stores into a single operation and he was named chairman. He continued as chairman of Bruno's until 1984, when he was slowed down by a heart attack. A year later he was named honorary chairman and was succeeded as chairman by his brother, Angelo, who later died in a plane crash. Joseph Bruno was named chairman emeritus in the early 1990s.

Last April, when shareholders approved the sale of the company to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., New York, he was too ill to attend the meeting. During his lifetime Joseph Bruno was active in numerous philanthropic causes. He is survived by his second wife, Theresa (the sister of his first wife, who died in 1956), two daughters, two sisters, two brothers, 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.