Retired Col. Thomas R. Bruce Jr., 94, of West Lafayette, died Friday, Oct. 31, He
was born July 13, 1914, in Mexico, Mo., and was the son of the late Thomas R
and Helen Milby Bruce. He graduated from the University of Missouri in 1937 and
the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., in 1955.
He married Frances L. Wise on Nov. 9, 1940, in Tulsa, Okla., and she survives.
Mr. Bruce served in the Army for 33 years, retiring in 1966. Mr. Bruce was a
member of United Methodist Church of West Lafayette, Rotary Club and the
Lafayette board of the American Red Cross.
Jim Turley writes: He and Dave Pfendler were friends. He also golfed with a
Purdue Associate Ag Dean Verne Freeman in a group I remember seeing on the
course in the mid 80's. Later in life he was a member of the Lafayette Chapter,
Military Officers Association. Fritz Cohen and others stayed in touch with him
over the years. I spent the summer of 1964 working for him at Fort Riley where
he was the ROTC Summer Camp Commander.
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