Just as the home medical equipment industry was heading to Medtrade Spring, Bruno Independent Living Aids announced on March 20 that its founder and chairman, Michael R. Bruno, had died of cancer.

Recently, Michael Bruno had transitioned leadership of the company to his eldest son and president/CEO Michael R. Bruno II, who said in a statement about his father’s passing, “It’s a great loss for our family. My father was truly passionate about the mobility and accessibility industries and spent most of his life developing and selling innovative products to improve people’s abilities to live independently.”

Bruno founded the mobility-focused company in 1984. Through the years, the company has sold vehicle lifts, adaptive automotive seating, stairlifts, power wheelchairs and scooters. In recent years, the manufacturer has attracted perhaps the greatest attention for its Turning Automotive Seating, systems that rotate and sometimes lower minivan or car seats to make transfers much more convenient and safer for users and their caregivers. Last year, Bruno sold its power chair and scooter lines to manufacturer Access Point Medical and vowed to focus on its lift and automotive access lines. Among Bruno’s exciting emerging technologies is the Carony, a wheeled mobility base that can accept various seats, including those used as part of a Bruno Turning Automotive Seating system. The Carony was demonstrated at the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) conference last month in Long Beach, Calif.

Bruno Independent Living Aids is headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wisc., and employs approximately 300 people.