William Louis BRUNELLE

BRUNELLE, DR. WILLIAM LOUIS, 83, passed away September 30, 2005, in South Hadley, Massachusetts, where he had traveled to from Homestead one week earlier. He was born on July 3, 1922, in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts and in 1942, during World War II, he enlisted in the United States Navy where he served as a Chief Pharmacists Mate. During the war he was assigned to a Navy Landing Ship Tank (LST #294) and participated in the invasion of Normandy. He was awarded several medals including a Bronze Star and was honorably discharged from active duty in 1945. In 1947 he again enlisted and served in the U.S. Naval Reserves until 1955. After the war Dr. Brunelle attended Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis, Missouri, where he met and married fellow student Genevieve Haller. After he graduated college in 1949 he opened his first Chiropractic Office in Coral Gables and was later invited to do a television show on Chiropractic each week on the only television station in Miami at the time, Channel 4, WTVJ. The show, called Health is Wealth, ran for over a year and was one of the first of its kind in the U.S. devoted entirely to the subject of Chiropractic. It aired live just before the local news at 5:55 pm, and as Dr. Brunelle would say years later, There was only one station then, so the people had to listen! During this time he formed an association with six other Chiropractors throughout South Florida known as the Brunelle Associate Chiropractic Offices. In 1953, he turned his practice over to a colleague and spent a year traveling the U.S. organizing seminars for Dr. James Parker who taught new professional techniques to the then expanding alternative health field of Chiropractic. Dr Brunelle also served as an Examiner for the Florida Board of Chiropractic Examiners and was on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Logan College of Chiropractic. He traveled extensively and lectured to other doctors on a multitude of Chiropractic topics. As his practice grew, he moved to larger offices on Flagler Street and later relocated to the southwest area of Miami. In 1993 Dr. Brunelle began his semi-retirement but stayed very active in community service such as recording literature for the blind and volunteering his time distributing equipment for the hearing-impaired. He was a member of the American, Florida, and Dade County Chiropractic Associations. Dr. Brunelle is survived by his former wife, Dr. Genevieve M. Haller of Virginia Beach, VA; sisters, V. Jeannette Supczak of South Hadley, MA, Yvonne Barsalou of Springfield, MA, Laurette Rollins of Westfield, MA; and eight nieces and nephews and their children. No memorial service is planned at this time, for more information please call (305) 242-6967. To visit this Guest Book Online, go to www.herald.com/obituaries. Published in The Miami Herald from 10/16/2005 - 10/17/2005.