Bruce Dean Page

Bruce Dean Page, Sr., closed his eyes in death and opened them in the presence of his Lord on April 1, 2025, after a five-year battle with a rare blood cancer. His courage and faithfulness—through his life until he drew his last breath—were a model to those around him.

Bruce was born on July 3, 1942, in Kingsley, IA, the second child and first son of Donald and Marjorie Page. He earned a Naval ROTC scholarship to Iowa State University, where he became the first in his family to earn a four-year degree, and where he developed a love and respect for education that stayed with him for a lifetime.

Upon graduating, he entered flight school and became a Naval aviator. In what would become a pattern of service to others, Bruce served his country for twenty years in uniform, advancing to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and being assigned as Operations Officer for the Navy’s largest training squadron. While he flew combat missions over Viet Nam in what was at the time an advanced light attack jet, the A-7D Corsair II, his favorite flying was done in the vintage A-1 “Spad.” He earned the right to regale his family and friends with airplane stories through thousands of hours in the cockpit and hundreds of landings on aircraft carriers around the world. He counted many squadron mates as brothers these 41 years after he retired.

More important to Bruce than his military service was his family. In 1968 he was introduced to, and fell in love with, Marie Teresa Gloeckner. Wisely realizing that life with her was dramatically preferable to staying in his Bachelor Officer Quarters—less-than-affectionately dubbed “Squalor Holler” by a shocked senior officer—they married on November 22, 1969, modeling Christian marriage for 55 years to anyone privileged to see them together.

The Lord blessed Bruce and Terry with five children—Bruce, Jr. (Laura), Carrie Walton (Howard), Christopher (Kristen), Timothy (Jennifer), and David (Dana)—who together have given them 17 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren so far.

Consistently willing to quietly undertake hard things, Bruce—an English major—earned a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1976. Upon retiring from the Navy in 1984, he took the family on a 4,000-mile tour of the United States and Canada (with a baby sleeping in the small RV’s bathtub), then earned a law degree from Florida State University a semester ahead of most of his classmates. He practiced as a successful litigator in Jacksonville and Deland for over 25 years, gaining respect from judges and colleagues alike that continues to this day.

The reader will recognize a theme of serving others in Bruce’s life: his country, his family, his clients, the church. Bruce loved to worship God with the gathered saints, and particularly to add his excellent baritone voice to his churches’ choirs. He now sees by sight what and Whom he saw for over fifty years by faith.

Bruce was preceded in death by his parents and four siblings. In addition to his dear friends of years Cliff and Linda Leonard, he is survived by his loving wife, seven brothers and sisters, and three generations of descendants whose lives he richly blessed.