Barbara Helen Bruce

Barb was born to Bob and Dorothy Bruce in 1953. She was raised in East Lansing alongside her brothers Doug and David, in a house built by their father. After graduating from East Lansing High School in 1971, she went on to attend Lansing Community College, where she began her nursing career. She later completed a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan, and a master’s degree from Michigan State, both while working full time and raising three children.

Nursing was more than a profession for Barb – it was a vocation that reflected her values of equity, justice, and empathy. After decades working Pediatrics, Labor & Delivery and Intensive Care at Sparrow Hospital, she became the iconic Nurse Bruce at Lansing Community College, where she spent the final 20 years of her professional life. Known to be intimidating but caring, Nurse Bruce set a high bar for both nursing care and nursing education. She emphasized the importance of compassion and nursing without judgment. She was the recipient of the 2017 Aurora Award for Steward of Diversity at LCC, an honor recognizing her work to foster relationships between nursing students and the immigrant and refugee community. She taught her students to apply critical thinking to every scenario, to be strong advocates for their patients, and to fiercely defend the dignity of those enduring hardships. If you or anyone you love has been a patient in the greater Lansing area over the past 30 years, there’s a good chance you’ve been cared for by a nurse who was shaped by Barb Bruce. She was too humble to say so herself, but she was a legend in her field and the world is a better place because of her.

While she was the formidable Nurse Bruce to her students and colleagues, to her family she was a devoted mother and grandmother, never more than a phone call away. She raised them to be fierce and strong in their convictions, but she was also a sentimental soul who knit keepsake baby clothes and loved to rock children to sleep (possibly in hopes of taking her own nap). With her beloved husband Kevin she built a cottage up north where the family spent many happy summers, her gardening beautifying an already idyllic space. Her grandchildren will remember her playful enthusiasm, as well as her warm, nurturing side, and that she spent endless hours playing dolls, swimming, crafting, traveling, and building campfires for s’mores.

She was as liberal as they come, a feminist to her core, and a voracious reader who favored books about people whose lives differed from her own. She was adventurous and loyal and funny, with a circle of profoundly important female friends. In the end, her years of dedication to those friendships led to a crew of incredible women stepping up to ensure that she never spent one minute alone in her illness. Those women will forever be heroes to the family.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 42 years, Kevin Nicholoff. She will be deeply missed by her daughters Kate (Rick), Kady (Hardeep), and Paris (Cameron), her treasured grandchildren Nadia, Sophie, Francis, Neeve, Sylvie, Petra, Hugo, and Pavlina, and a large circle of extended family and friends who respected and loved her dearly.

If you would like to make a donation in Barb’s honor, the family requests that contributions be directed to Everytown for Gun Safety, Planned Parenthood, or the Boys and Girls Club of America.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, January 18th, at 11 am at People’s Church, East Lansing, Michigan.