Bruce Campbell was born in Munich, Germany on September 13, 1950, the fourth of six sons born to Bette and Colonel Donald Campbell. Bruce’s father was an Army thoracic surgeon; Bruce’s grandfather was General Archibald Campbell, Class of 1889; Bruce’s brother Don was a member of the Class of 1966. Bruce entered West Point in 1968 after graduating from Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, TX. 

As a cadet in Company D-2, Bruce was the classmate who helped others who were struggling academically. He and his plebe roommates, Mike Rodrigue and Rob Wyatt, were all taking French. Bruce tutored both in French, and he also tutored Mike in math. Bruce was a cadet who didn’t have to study very hard and one who had a knack for getting himself and classmates out of scrapes and situations. Companymates wanted to room with Bruce. He wasn’t gossipy; he was a very good friend and an ideal roommate. 

Bruce was a gymnast. As a boy he could do standing back flips and could walk across a room on his hands. At West Point, in addition to gymnastics, he participated in boxing, tennis and fencing. Bruce said that he learned teamwork and dealing with pressure by participating in sports. His other interests at West Point included the Fine Arts Forum when he was a plebe; specifically, the Ballet Seminar, because it had the most trips to New York City (he could go to the ballet productions and, more importantly, have free time in the city). Bruce was adventurous, reserved and had a wicked sense of humor. He kept a Volkswagen up by Thayer Hotel, which he disguised by periodically spray-painting it different colors. During firstie year, he brought a yellow Jaguar XKE to school early, got caught and suffered the consequences. After graduation, the Jag took him and his younger brothers, Colin and Stuart, on some great road trips. 

During summer leave after graduation, Bruce met Catherine at a party organized by his brother Colin and began a lifelong relationship with her. Catherine was a nursing student at Incarnate Word College in San Antonio who went on to a 28-year career in the Army, retiring in 2004 as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S.A. Nurse Corps. Bruce went on to Airborne School, Ranger School, and the Air Defense Artillery Officer Basic Course, followed by postings in Korea and at Fort Campbell, KY. Bruce and former roommate Mike Rodrigue were posted together at Camp Casey, Korea, and were tasked to support an infantry battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Pete Dawkins, Class of 1958 and Heisman Trophy winner. Mike and Bruce were also posted together at Fort Campbell, where Catherine was also stationed. Bruce became intrigued with the newly created Air Assault School, graduating in the first class and then became an instructor. 

Bruce left the service to pursue an advanced degree in nuclear engineering. After acceptance into a master’s program at the University of Texas at Austin, in 1978 he and Catherine were married. Catherine was stationed in Tacoma, WA, so Bruce arranged a transfer to the University of Washington and finished his master’s in nuclear engineering there. Daughter Caroline was born in 1980 and twin daughters Laura and Sarah in 1985. 

Bruce enjoyed a successful civilian career as a nuclear engineer for Brown & Root, TRW, and Northrop Grumman before starting his own company, which he sold in 2002. After retiring in 2013, Bruce lived in Colorado Springs, CO, where he worked for the American Red Cross helping victims of home fires. In October 2014, Bruce took a challenging position at Hickham AFB in Hawaii as lead nuclear engineer at the Naval Shipyards, working on submarines. Catherine and Bruce traveled to Australia and New Zealand in 2016 before returning to Colorado Springs. 

In 1981, three years after marrying Catherine and one year after the birth of daughter Caroline, Bruce was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Over the next 20 years Bruce had five recurrences of cancer, four were successfully treated with heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy and one autologous bone marrow transplant. His fifth recurrence in 2005 required another bone marrow transplant. Bruce’s brother Colin was an excellent match, and Colin’s cells were transplanted into Bruce at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, where Catherine and Bruce lived for four months during this time. The transplant was successful, and Bruce enjoyed 13 more years of active life with Catherine, his daughters and his three grandchildren: Campbell, Piper and Henry. In September 2018, Bruce developed acute myeloid leukemia and succumbed to it a few weeks later, passing away on October 9, 2018. Since Bruce’s passing, a fourth grandchild has been born and named Bruce.

Bruce’s classmates remember him as quiet, calm and always at peace. He had an appreciation of the nuances and poetry found in situations and relationships. He always sought out adventures, hiking the Continental Divide Trail with brothers Colin and Stuart, climbing Mount Rainier and running up to the summit of Pike’s Peak. First and foremost in Bruce’s life was his love for Catherine and their girls. Catherine and Bruce did everything together, especially enjoying their kids and their dog, Turtle. Throwing sticks for Turtle to retrieve on the Air Force Academy grounds and letting Turtle swim in ponds were joys in Bruce’s daily life. Bruce was deeply loved by his by his wife, his children and grandchildren, his brothers and his classmates. Be Thou at Peace, husband, father, grandfather, friend and classmate. 

— Family and classmates