Bruce, Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson Bruce was born March 3, 1917, in Keystone, W.Va., and died July 10, 2009, at his home in Fairlawn, Va. Bobby was the fourth of the six children of George Cleveland Bruce, of Belspring and Nellie Vermilion Rowe Bruce, of Giles County (his oldest sibling, George William Bruce, died as an infant in 1913).

Bobby was very sickly as a child and had pneumonia numerous times and was not expected to live; partly from illnesses he was quite small and was only 4 ft. 11 in., and weighed 98 pounds when he was 17 years old.

Nellie, the children’s beloved Mommie, died in August of 1925 and all the siblings went separate ways; Bobby lived with Uncle Doley and Aunt Fanny Caldwell (no relation) in Belspring. He swam in the New River, explored caves, thinned corn for five cents an hour, heard stories and passed them along. At 11 years old he began driving Uncle Doley to work at the Parrott Coal Mine at five in the morning, Daley had a car but couldn’t drive; Bobby picked him up during school lunch break. He graduated from Belspring High School in 1934 and was awarded an academic scholarship to William and Mary, but he didn’t have enough money for bus fare to Williamsburg, much less books or meals.

He entered the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1934 and after the CCC held various jobs: with the N&W Railway, Big Vein Coal Mine he worked on the dinky train that carried coal from the mine to the tipple, the Box Factory, and other odd jobs.

In 1940 Bobby married the love of his life, Rose Ellen Smith, of Radford. Bobby and Rosie were married for 60 years until Rosie’s death in 2000. Their lives and home were characterized by love and laughter, faith and hard work. Their deepest joy and pride were in one another and their family: sons, Robert Gray Bruce and wife, Laurie, of Austin, Texas, and George Stephen Bruce and wife, Nancy, of Kingsport, Tenn.; grandchildren, Shannon Elizabeth Bruce, of Fairlawn, Robert Gray Bruce Jr. and wife, Gretchen, of Austin, George Stephen Bruce Jr. and wife, Mary Ann, of Chattanooga, Tenn., Timothy Herbert Bruce and wife, Sarah, of Atlanta, Ga., Casey Cox Fisk and husband, David, of Dallas, Texas, and Adam Michael Cox, of Portland, Oreg.; and great-grandchildren, Jacob Wilson Bruce, Robert Finn Bruce and Lily Elizabeth Bruce, all of Austin. To the end of his life Bobby cherished his family and enjoyed every minute of their presence and escapades, particularly of the grands and great-grands.

In 1944 Bobby and Rosie and family moved to Fairlawn and he declared his next move would be “to the cemetery.” During World War II he began working at the Powder Plant as part of the civilian effort to win the war and except for short periods of time he worked at the Arsenal until retirement. He could do most anything: from work crossword and Sudoku puzzles to wiring and plumbing his own house and repairing his car. An avid reader of history and biographies and politics and the Bible he astounded and confounded his family, who knew he had only 11 years of schooling, with his ability to do crossword puzzles and remember most everything he read. In his own Fairlawn/Belspring way he was a tobacco-chewing, football and NASCAR-loving Renaissance Man.

Bobby was a committed Christian. He taught Sunday School for decades, was an Elder in the Fairlawn Presbyterian Church and served on committees of the Presbytery and General Assembly of the PCUSA. Family and friends knew him as a man who actively cared for others, washed dishes at the Radford/Fairlawn Daily Bread, visited the sick, and had kind and loving words for everyone. He believed that faith was a matter of loving actions.

One of his more remarkable gifts was his ability to tell stories about his family and other people. Our family files are full of Bobby’s stories about his growing up and the people of his world: family and friends, especially the folks of Belspring and Parrott in the 1925 to 1945 time frame. They are priceless memories of a way of life that has disappeared.

His family will remember all this and far more about him. He was a gentleman, in the true sense of gentle, a loving and gracious and funny and generous and absolutely dependable man if he gave you his word, it was better than any signed document, We could go on, but most of you will know the same about him. We thank God for his life.

The Family of Robert Wilson Bruce

Following a private family burial, a Memorial Service will be held 11 a.m. on Friday, July 17, 2009, at the Fairlawn Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Terry Woodard officiating; a fellowship and visitation time will follow at the church. DeVilbiss Funeral Home is handling arrangements.