SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Maj. Robert D. Bruce III, M.D. died at his home in Southern Pines, N.C. last Sunday Oct. 30, 2022, surrounded by his family after a battle with cancer.

“Bob” or “Bubba” as he was known by his family, grew up in Caratunk where he attended the Caratunk Elementary School, a one-room schoolhouse. After one year at Bingham High School he received a full scholarship to Gould Academy in Bethel where he graduated in 2001. He said that Gould was one of the greatest experiences of his life. He then entered Dartmouth College where he graduated in 2005.

Bob then moved to Alaska for several years working on a Halibut boat and guiding bear hunting trips. He also cared for a sled dog team which he ran in the “Pre-Iditarod”, a great honor. He loved Alaska- the people, and everything about it.

In 2010, he was accepted at the Tufts School of Medicine Maine Track Program, and at the same time was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. In 2013 he received a combined diploma from Tufts School of Medicine and Maine Medical Center. He believed the Maine Track Program provided the finest medical school education in the country.

Bob did his residency at the Army Hospital at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash., and then completed a fellowship in Critical and Pulmonary Care at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. He then moved to Southern Pines, N.C. and practiced at Womack Army Hospital at Fort Bragg.

Bob lived to hunt and fish. He said that he felt closest to God when he was in the woods, and that the woods were “his church”. His dream was to return to Maine to practice medicine, where he could hunt in the Maine Woods.

He is survived by his wife, Becky; and his three children, Robert, Abigail, and Malcolm. His children were his greatest joy in life.