FAYETTE – Bruce Edward Bierce of Fayette, Maine, died peacefully at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington on June 16th surrounded by his loving family.

Bruce was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 5th, 1937 to Grace and John Bierce.  As a boy he enjoyed exploring the swails near his home and – along with his sister, Martha – was active in 4H club.  He attended elementary and high schools in Grand Rapids and ran track in grades 9 – 12.  Dyslexia made academics difficult and at first, he did not plan to go on to college.  However, after working on an assembly line for a year he enrolled in Grand Rapids Junior College where he earned an Associate Degree. He continued at Michigan State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts and then to Central Michigan University where he earned a Master of Arts in Audio Visual Education.

While at Michigan State he met Patricia Holmes and they married in 1962.  They had two children, Bruce Edward, Jr., and Barbara Elizabeth.  While Bruce was teaching Industrial Arts in Greenville, Michigan the family visited Bruce’s sister who was living in Mt. Vernon, Maine, and returned to Michigan with the desire to move to Maine permanently.  They were able to do this when Bruce obtained a position at the University of Maine in Augusta where he became the first Director of Audio-Visual Services.

The family purchased a farmhouse in Fayette which they began to renovate, but after some disillusioning experiences they decided to build a new home themselves.  Bruce and Patricia had read about the country’s leading homesteaders, Helen, and Scott Nearing, and followed their process to build their own stone and shingle house, later adding gardens, waterfalls, pools and bridges built by Bruce.

Following his time at UMA he worked at several jobs including his favorite which involved setting up displays for the Maine State Office of Energy Resources.  From 1975 until he retired 25 years later, he worked as Media Specialist at Oxford Hills Middle School.  During his time there he started the first bar code system for tracking the library collection which greatly improved the inventory process.

In 1995, his wife Patricia passed away following a long battle with lupus.  After her death Bruce established the Patricia Bierce Memorial Scholarship Fund for graduates of Spruce Mountain High School in Jay who are interested in science.

In 2001 Bruce married Judith McCown, a retired Special Educator, whose husband had died in 1993.  During this period a latent interest in photography resurfaced and many beautiful pictures were taken, framed, and sold.  One received the Harry Faust Award in Waterville and recently the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell exhibited his photos taken in Mexico. For many years he attended plays at the Public Theater in Lewiston and was acknowledged for the pictures that he donated annually for their silent auctions.  He also designed numerous posters, concert programs and brochures for the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta of which he has been a member for many years.

Bruce developed a fondness for travel later in life and enjoyed trips to the Republic of Georgia, Spain, Mexico. Guatemala and Costa Rica. He had a lifelong love of trains and shared this interest with grandchildren by taking them to Boston on Amtrak when they were eight years old. In later years he and his wife, Judy, travelled by rail to Florida and the Grand Canyon.  He also looked forward each summer to ferry trips to the Maine Islands.

Bruce was known for his generosity and kindness.  He was an extremely talented man, hardworking and considerate of everyone, always honest and fair.  He was a loving father and grandfather, husband, and friend.  His later years were plagued by serious health issues that made every movement difficult, but he soldiered on, continuing to work on projects and to help others as he was able.

He will be deeply missed by his family: his wife, Judy; his son Bruce, Jr., and wife Ping of Cornish, ME: his daughter Barbara and husband Rodger Coryell of NY and grandchildren Ann and Trey.  He leaves his sister Marty and David Thornton of Hallowell, and nephews Adam, Bill, and Seth.  He will also be sadly missed by his stepfamily, Christine, and Scott Esancy of Appleton, ME and their children Malachi, Noah, Jonah, Christopher and Samantha and Laura and Scott McCown of Scarborough and their children Adam, Alexandra, Andrew, and Toby.

We wish to thank the staff at Franklin Memorial Hospital for the thoughtful care that Bruce received.

A Celebration of Life will be held later this summer.

Arrangements are entrusted with Roberts Funeral Home and Cremation Care, 62 Bowdoin Street, Winthrop, Maine. Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the Roberts Funeral Home website, https://www.khrfuneralhomes.com.

For those wishing to remember Bruce, contributions to the Patricia Bierce Memorial Scholarship Fund would have pleased him very much.  Donations can be sent to the Superintendent, Regional School Unit 73, 9 Cedar St, Livermore Falls, ME  04254

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