Dorothy Bruce

Dorothy June Anderson Bruce, 83, of Glendale, AZ, our loving mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully after a wonderful and fulfilling life, on Sunday, May 5, 2013 surrounded by her family.

Mom was born in Corvallis, Oregon on March 23, 1930 to Lillian and Andrew Anderson. She was the youngest of nine children. She married Howard Franklin Bruce on June 21, 1947. They had three children Linda Carol, Darlene Ann and William Howard; 12 grandchildren, 25 great grandchildren, and 8 great-great grandchildren.

Mom was an excellent cook and she loved to be in the kitchen. In 1958, Mom and dad opened their own café, Alvin’s Café, in Salem, Oregon. Mom was the cook, Dad was the cashier while talking politics with the customers, Linda and Darlene were the servers and Bill was busboy as well as dishwasher. It was a family affair. In 1959, they opened Bruce’s Café, which they owned for 6 years.  Later they started a successful janitorial business, Bruce’s Janitorial. Mom and Dad would always first offer employment to church members and family. But it seemed that mom’s life really was complete when she became a grandmother. She was the epitome of a wonderfully doting grandmother. Their business provided a lot of fun times for the grandchildren. Whenever you stayed the night with them you were able to drink as much soda as your belly could hold at the Bar-B-Q Pit Restaurant.

Mom was always a very spiritual person. But it was a radio program, The World Tomorrow that converted Dad. In the early 1960’s, our family joined the World Wide Church of God. They were believers their entire lives. Through the years they developed countless life long friendships through the church. The church was their second family.

Mom’s other passions included flowers, music and travel. You could frequently find mom in her garden and flowerbed. Even though mom could not carry a tune in a bucket, that did not stop her from loving of music and playing the piano. She gladly taught how to play the piano to any of her grandchildren who showed the slightest interest. Many a night the grandchildren would sing-a-long to grandma playing the piano and grandpa accompanying on his guitar. Most of these events were captured on cassette tapes.

After mom and dad retired they purchased a motor home and took many journeys all over the United States. Many times they would bring along one grandchild from each of their children. This provided a great opportunity for the grandkids to bond and get closer together. After visiting Arizona many times they eventually moved to Glendale, Arizona.

We will miss her dearly and are grateful that she has left us with many fond memories. Whether you knew her as Dorothy, Dottie, Dot, Mom or Grandma she will be truly missed.

Graveside services will be at 9:30 AM on Friday, May 10, 2013 at National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix.

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