My life would have been a lot different without John Bruce.
I’ve known his son Sean since we were little kids. We played basketball together for years and later on we both took up running marathons. When you train for marathons together you talk quite a bit. As I was starting to get more involved in local school politics I told Sean one day, “You know, I’m thinking about running for school board.”
Sean was quiet for a second and then flatly said, “You need to talk to my dad.” I’d never really made the connection and asked him why. Sean said, “Just talk to him.” Well I did – and I’m sure glad I did.
John is a kindly, caring, avuncular historian. When he heard what I was thinking, he was supportive, but made sure to let me know I was getting involved in something pretty heavy. As usual, John was right.
I could go on and on about the many ways John has been personally supportive. In times of stress, I’d call John. If I had a question and wasn’t sure where to go, I’d ask John. If I had good news to share, I loved to tell John. And I know John loved to talk about these things, too. His caring and concern was always genuine. He was always there to help.
And the reason is, there are not too many people who have walked planet Earth that have done as much or care as much about Grosse Pointe, and specifically the youth of Grosse Pointe, than John Bruce. Sure, plenty of people care, but John invested – pretty much his whole career to the endeavor.
You can read this C&G piece for more of the specifics of his career, but I want to offer this.
Great things don’t happen by accident. They happen because good people invest of themselves for the betterment of others – with no concern for their own gain and often at a price. That’s what John Bruce has done for years. He leaves his post with hundreds of friends, a smile on his face, and a few scars on his back.
If you live in Grosse Pointe, you may not realize it, but you’re probably benefitting in some way from John’s efforts. If you stand in position to invest yourself, commit to doing so because we need good people to make the same commitment John did.
Through some trying times, John has been a great inspiration to me. He’s earned his retirement, but more than that he deserves the investment of good people like him to keep Grosse Pointe a great place to raise our children.
Indeed my life would have been different without John Bruce. It would have been much less fulfilling and much more hollow.
Thank you, John. We’ll carry the torch now.
2 responses to “Thank you, John Bruce”
Mr. Bruce was my english teacher at Pierce, a life long commitment to Education and community involvement.
All the best.
Brendan… having grown up through the ranks as a St. Clare student as you and Sean I too was one of those fortunate individuals that learned from Mr. Bruce; not just the basic skill/s of sport BUT more importantly the attributes needed to be a quality participatory member of the community as an adult. I find it impossible to place into written form the impact such a man had on all of our lives and I wanted to thank you for doing such an admirable, top-notch job of it. Of course I would like to add my THANKS to Mr. Bruce. The Grosse Pointe Community, as you stated Brendan, would not be what it is today without the tireless efforts throughout the years of this GREAT MAN.
PS- If that “torch” ever gets too heavy pass it to me… and I know of a lot more people willing to carry it forward because YOU have OUR support 🙂