Melvin Brunetti – Class of 1951

Judge Melvin Brunetti was born on November 10, 1933 to Frank and Nancy Brunetti.  Judge Brunetti had two younger brothers, Larry and Frank.  In 1940 when his father was working at a grocery store, the Brunetti’s bought and moved to a ranch south of Oddie and Sullivan.  The grocery store that Frank Brunetti worked at sold bulk products to the neighboring farms.  During WWII, food was scarce, so the Brunetti’s grew and harvested food on their ranch and sold some of their products back to the grocery store.

            He took an interest in playing the clarinet while at Robert Mitchell.  Soon after he started playing the clarinet Judge Brunetti started a band with some of his friends.  The band included instruments such as drums, a piano, trumpet, guitar, and clarinet.  Later in the late 40’s, his brother, Frank, joined the band.  Judge Brunetti and his band performed at many school dances.

            Judge Brunetti was also active in high school.  He as the senior class president, part of a band and belonged to various school organizations.  In school he had some favorite teachers, some of whom included Ms. Ham, his geometry and math teacher and Mr. Stone, a science teacher.  One instructor was the most inspirational of all.  That instructor was Alf Sorensen of the athletic department who unfortunately died in a car accident.  Mr. Sorensen is also a member of the Hall of Fame.  All of these teachers were tough no-nonsense teachers.

            After graduating from high school in 1951, Judge Brunetti attended college where his major was to be electrical engineering, but he dropped out of UNR in his second year.  He later went into the dairy business and stayed for seven and a half years, becoming the Reno division officer.  Later, he became the operations officer of James Canyon Ranch.  After his career in dairy, he studied accounting and later enrolled in Hastings Law School in 1960.  He has been a federal judge for twenty-two years, and seven years ago he took senior status.

            He is most proud of his ever-growing family with his two children, two grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren, with a fourth to come.

            He will continue working as a judge and plans to be much more involved with his family.

Inducted 2007