Submitted by: Dan Rich

C. Eldon Bruce

Feb. 25, 1910 - March 29, 2003

South Bend Tribune 4/1/2003

C. Eldon Bruce, 92, of Orkney Drive, South Bend, Ind., passed away at 3:40 p.m. Saturday, March 29, in South Bend. He was born on Feb. 25, 1910, at Bruce Lake, Ind., to Zella (Neff) and Albert Bruce. He was preceded in death by his parents, and by two brothers, Thomas Burdell Bruce and Ralph Bruce. On June 10, 1934, in Kankakee, Ill., he married Alyce Elizabeth Norris. Alyce survives. He is also survived by two daughters and their husbands, Norrine and Arthur McCune of Granger, Ind., and Valerie and Daniel Kelver of South Bend; his son and daughter-in- law, Norris and Catherine Bruce of Mishawaka, Ind.; a brother, Donald Floyd Bruce of Indianapolis, Ind.; seven grandchildren, Daniel Waters of Los Angeles, Calif., Mark (Dina) Waters of Los Angeles, Michael (Margaret) Kelver of Mishawaka, Kenneth (Sandy) Bruce of Rochester, Ind., Elizabeth (Rick) Schneider of Granger, Kathleen (Stu) MacFarlane-Waters of Manhatten Beach, Calif., and Angela Kelver of Bloomington, Ind.; and by eight great- grandchildren.

Mr. Bruce graduated from Kewanna High School and attended Purdue University until the death of his father forced him to leave and help raise the family. He was a member of St. Joseph Lodge #45 F&AM, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Valley of South Bend, past monarch of the Avalon Grotto, and was a member of First Christian Church of South Bend for 62 years where he had served as a deacon for many years. Having grown up in Kewanna, he came to South Bend in 1940 and became an electrical engineer by trade, working at Joy Manufacturing, the Studebaker Corporation and Bendix Corporation, and Sullair Corporation where he was plant engineer, from which he retired in 1982. Friends and family will remember his big smile and wonderful sense of humor. Everyone was his friend and he lived his life by the motto "if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all." He was known as "Mr. Fix It," fixing anything you gave him, and was the happiest when his family and those around him were happy. To the day he died, his mind was as sharp as when he was in college.