Emily Long Bruce

Emily Long Bruce, of Harrisonburg, passed away on July 24th 2020, a few days shy of her 90th birthday. She was preceded in death by her loving and devoted husband of 61 years, Dr. Douglas S. Bruce. Emily was born in Harrisonburg on August 2, 1930, as the youngest of six children of Edgar Long and Sadie Liskey Long. Emily is preceded in death by her siblings, Anna Margaret Watson, Robert Long, Carroll Long, and Helen Long Frank. Emily has one surviving sibling, Lois L. Driver of Fairfax, VA. Emily is survived by her four children, Dr. Gregory S. Bruce and wife Sandy, T. Stefan Bruce, Gwen Bruce Moore and husband Curtis Moore, and Patti Bruce Hunter and husband Ned Hunter. She is also survived by her 9 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren, and many special nieces, nephews and extended family. On September 23,1951, after dating in high school and college, Emily and Doug were wed while he was serving in the US Navy in the Korean War. They lived in San Diego, CA for a time as well. Emily, a graduate of Madison College, returned to her teaching position in Health and Physical Education at the first consolidated high school in Broadway, VA. She later taught health, physical education and driver education in the classroom and behind the wheel in Richmond Public Schools while her husband was attending Medical College of Virginia Dental School. When they settled back in the valley in New Market, VA for Doug’s dental practice, Emily became involved in the community. Some highlights include: founding a local chapter of the Girl Scouts, serving on the PTA board and participating on the Lady’s golf team at Shenvalee. Emily loved golf and loved telling folks about becoming a member of “the hole-in-one club,” which occurred at the Waynesboro Country Club in 1980. Additionally, in the mid-seventies, Emily was asked to serve on the New Market town council, making her the first woman to hold office in all of Shenandoah County. In her 10 years as a councilwoman, she served on many committees and her favorite position was chairman of the Parks and Recreation committee, where she raised the funds to build the New Market Community Park in 1985, the center of activity in New Market today. Emily’s leadership in successfully building the New Market Community Park led her to becoming the First Woman Mayor of New Market, the proudest honor and highlight of her career. For decades, Emily served her community on countless boards, committees and organizations and received many awards for her service. In her spare time, Emily became a real estate agent, a real estate broker and started her own real estate company which become a successful woman-owned business for twenty years in the New Market and surrounding areas. Emily loved Doug, her family, her cats, a great mountain view, the beach, steamed crabs, golf, and a good competition. She will be dearly missed. In the coming days, a private graveside service will be held at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens. An outdoor community Celebration of Emily’s life is being planned for a future date and if you are interested in attending, please send an email to: [email protected] and you will be notified of our plans. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Dementia Society of America at dementiasociety.org or Girl Scouts of the USA at girlscouts.org or the Rockingham Harrisonburg SPCA at rhspca.org Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.lindseyharrisonburg.com