Thaddeus B. Bruno was born in 1907 in Portland, Oregon. His family owned Bruno Photography Studios, which he sold to Charles Winningham, Jr. in 1960. He served in the Army Air Forces in World War II. He worked as a real estate developer, serving as senior vice president of Cushman & Wakefield and owning Thaddeus B. Bruno Property Investments. He was also active in the Republican Party, serving as the Oregon Republican chair and the finance chair for the campaigns of U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan; U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield; and Oregon Governor Tom McCall. His other positions included head of the Oregon Racing Commission, president of the Portland Civic Theatre, president of the Multnomah Athletic Club, president of the Waverley Country Club, director and president of Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center, and director of the television station KATU.

In 1934, he married Wanda Nadine Starr (later Wanda Alles, 1914-1984). The couple had two children: Thaddeus "Todd" Bruno, Jr., and Lynnda Bruno (later Hart). Thaddeus Bruno and Wanda Starr Bruno divorced in 1944. In 1947, Thaddeus Bruno married his second wife, Dean Harding (1907-2007); the couple had a son, Scott. Thaddeus Bruno died in October 1997.

Sources: Obituary for Thaddeus Bruno in the Oregonian, October 24, 1997, page D13; "Bruno Photo Studios Sold," Oregonian, May 28, 1960, page 5; vital records via Ancestry.com; information provided by Lynnda Hart in 2018.