BRUCE, James (Jim) Wallace

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 11/19/2012 James (Jim) Wallace Bruce, 84, longtime resident of Taylor, died of cancer, Nov. 15, 2012 at Solterra Senior Living of Lakeside. He was born Nov. 19, 1927 in San Diego, Calif. As a young man, Jim served his country in the Army and the Air Force. He became both a professional engineer and a land surveyor. He worked for and retired from San Diego County. He then moved his family to Taylor, where he became the Navajo County Engineer and founded Bruce Engineering. He was instrumental in surveying many parcels in and around the local area. He was a kind and generous person and became a well-respected member of the local community. Jim was a quiet man but one whose passions ran deep. As a young man he pursued hobbies in ham radio, photography and rock hounding. The rock hounding bug stuck and even in his later years, you could often find him leaning down to check out interesting rocks. Jim is survived by, and will be greatly missed by his five children: Kathryn Bruce of Taylor, Janice Madariaga (Kirk) of Paonia, Colo., James Bruce of Taylor, John Bruce (Lisa) of Snowflake and Nancy Piccoli (Steve) of Show Low; five grandchildren: Shane, Valerie, Melody, Hunter and Nathan and three great grandchildren: Jessamine, Niven and Charlie. He is also survived by Carol Bruce of Quartzsite. Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Matthew and Kathryn Bruce. There will be a memorial service held at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, at Solterra Senior Living located at 5408 Arizona Highway 260 in Lakeside.