I recently found this obituary of Karen written three weeks after her death.
Here is the link: http://www.silive.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2010/03/karen_bruun_danser_59.html.

Karen Bruun Danser, 59


Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 6:14 AM Updated: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 6:16 AM

Staten Island Advance



Family PhotoKaren Bruun Danser, 2000STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Karen Bruun Danser, a photography and TV model who reigned as Miss Staten Island in 1969, died March 2 in Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Ozaukee, Mequon, Wis. Her age was 59.

Born in Seattle, Wash. Ms. Bruun moved to West Brighton with her family when she was a 6-year-old girl. She later lived in Grymes Hill and Annadale before relocating to Old Wick, N.J, Pennsylvania and Florida. She settled in West Bend, Wis., 10 years ago.

She attended Tottenville High School, then transferred to Curtis High School so she could be closer to Manhattan. The 15-year-old was close to launching her modeling career and was associated with the Stewart Modeling Agency.

Ms. Bruun later attended Wagner College, Grymes Hill.

Pretty and personable, in 1968 Ms. Bruun held the title of Miss Teenage New York City and competed in the Miss Teenage America Pageant.

Actress Cybill Shepard, who was a judge in that pageant — and who many say Ms. Bruun resembled — and an editor at Teen Magazine spotted her, and she became a model with the renowned Ford Agency. She continued to hone her skills in the modeling profession for the next two decades, becoming a familiar face in print ads. But Ms. Bruun is perhaps best known as the woman in the billboard and magazine advertisements for Black Velvet Whiskey.

She also was seen in magazines such as Teen, Mademoiselle, American Girl and Young Miss, as well as in catalogs for Sears and JC Penney, and in a number of TV commercials.

Ms. Bruun was recently recognized as one of Top Models of the 1960s and 1970s.

Jim Smith, executive director of the Miss Staten Island Scholarship Pageant, remembers her as a beautiful young woman. “All connected with the pageant were so proud to see her photos as a model, even after her reign as Miss Staten Island,” he said.

Surviving Ms. Bruun are her son, Peter B. Near; her daughters, Anna Near Payne and Jamie Danser; her parents, Joanne and Stanley Bruun; a sister, Nancy Rundlet; a brother, Brent Bruun; her first husband, Peter Near; her second husband, Jim Danser, and a grandchild.

There will be a memorial service on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church of Morris Plains, N.J. Arrangements, including cremation, were handled by the Mueller Funeral Home, Cedarburg, Wis.










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Thank you, Ranma:

Yes, thank you so much for sharing this with all of us, Ranma. I've condensed the text and added both it and the photo to Karen Bruun's Portfolio Album:

http://www.minimadmod60s.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=15564

*~Susan Camp~*