Bruce Dominic Harrison

On Sunday, May 29th, Bruce Harrison left this earth to be in heaven with our God, our Savior and a host of family and animal angels welcoming him home. He battled Grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme for 4 years after receiving an initial survival estimate of 15 months.

Bruce is survived by Sara, his wife of 34 years, his daughter Rachel Mitchell-Bratschi (Jason), his son J.C. Mitchell, and Biggie the Chihuahua. He is also survived by his five siblings: Vince, Tony (Karen), Yvonne Metcalf (Tim), Blaise, Chris (Karen) and his cousin, Kathleen Johnson (Pete).

Bruce Dominic Harrison was born in Houston, Texas on October 23, 1956. He was the fifth of six children born to Daniel and Evelyn Harrison. He graduated from Bellaire High School in 1975.

In looking back on his childhood, he often commented that his family of eight people was not well-off, but they had everything they needed. His mother taught elementary School for 23 years while raising six children like a single mom as his father suffered from multiple disabilities and was not able to fully participate in family life. His mother had the most positive attitude toward life and no doubt was the reason Bruce was eternally optimistic and happy. If you asked him if the glass were half full or half empty, he would tell you not only is it half full…. it’s refillable!

As a youth, Bruce had a bicycle that took him all over the southwest portion of Houston. As long as he was home by 5 for supper, he had freedom to explore and play. His first job was delivering newspapers by bicycle. As he grew older, the bicycle was replaced by dirt bikes and motorcycles which greatly increased the areas of Houston he could explore. He loved every form of water from swimming pools, lakes, rivers, to the ocean. Galveston was just down the road, and he spent a good amount of time there learning to surf.

Although his large family had a limited budget, his mother used every opportunity to take her kids to state parks throughout the state of Texas. These road trips were before seat belts. Six kids and his mom would pile into a Ford Falcon for a weekend getaway. These trips, the creative seating, and the way his mom organized everything were the subject of many animated stories he would tell.

Bruce learned early in life that if he wanted something, he needed to work to obtain it. After graduating from high school, he started work at Montgomery Wards where he became the youngest Lazy Boy salesperson with the highest sales in Texas.

He then moved into construction. His desire to understand construction from the ground up had him working in all phases of construction in and around the Houston area. In 1978, Bruce organized BDH Construction in Harris County and over the next few years, his experience as a general contractor grew. From 1978 to 1984, Bruce worked as a construction superintendent on residential homes and small commercial buildings. In 1985, Bruce moved to Austin where he focused on custom trim and cabinetry. In addition to working for himself, he served as project manager for local home builders where he built upper end and multi-million-dollar homes. Throughout 44 years in construction, Bruce’s relationships with subcontractors, suppliers and homeowners took on almost mythical proportions. Bruce knew construction inside out and became fast friends with everyone who met him. He demanded perfection on his projects, and he was fiercely loyal to his curated team of subcontractors and suppliers. Although he might bend your ear over something he was upset about, at the end of the session he more than likely said, “Now let’s go eat lunch”! He made his point and was ready to move on.

In addition to driving from job site to job site, typically with one or two of his Labrador retrievers in tow, he was known for running his business from his phone. Bruce had an incredible mind for math and numbers. Before smart phones, he had everyone’s phone number memorized. And he wanted to talk to you…. that’s how he got things done. If you did not answer when he called, he just kept dialing your number until you were able to pick up. He did not want you to email him, text him, or leave him a voice message…. he wanted to talk to you. Calculations for bids came faster from his brain than if you tried to use a calculator. Speaking of phones, we thought he would never give up his flip phone. He was a hold out for many years, but once he got an iPhone and mastered text messaging, we got the greatest string of emojis anyone could ever wish for.

Not long after moving to Austin, Bruce and several of his buddies went to visit a high school friend who lived in the Anderson Mill subdivision. As strange as this story sounds, this friend was a young widow and her neighbor next door, Sara Mitchell, was also a recent widow with two young children. Sara and her two children went next door to see her neighbor and find out who was visiting. As soon as they entered the home, four-year-old Rachel ran across the room and jumped up in a guy’s lap. She promptly hugged him and planted a kiss on his cheek. The guy looked at his buddies and said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I want to meet her mother!” This is the wonderful story of how Bruce and Sara met. Bruce and Sara married on January 16, 1988. He took on a ready-made family in Sara, six-year-old Rachel and 2-year-old Justin. Although he was known to occasionally pay $10 to teens in the neighborhood to change a dirty diaper, he was fulfilled as a daddy.

Bruce built the home he & Sara live in and he bought and remodeled two homes on the same street…one for each of their children. Having family close by was extremely important and a blessing that the children felt the same way.

Bruce loved projects. He was famous for calling and saying, “I need your help for 15 minutes.” Two hours later, you realized you had been held captive by a loud talking, multi-tasking man who moved at the speed of light. But you probably learned something in the process…. oh, how we wish we could have another 15 minutes!

One of the projects he absolutely loved was working at the ranch in south Texas. It was a three-hour drive from Austin and during hunting season, he would take off on Thursday afternoon and return Sunday evening. He could keep up with his jobs by phone, so distance was not a problem. He designed the best deer blinds, taught many kids how to drive there and loved cooking unique concoctions for meals at the ranch. If he needed additional workers for a large project, you got invited to the ranch for a “work and fun” weekend. Although he did fill his home media room with taxidermy trophies from the ranch, after his diagnosis he decided he didn’t want to kill a living thing. At that point, he and Sara loved spending time in the deer blind watching the beauty of animals in nature and celebrating panoramic sunrises and sunsets.

Bruce loved things that moved him around: bicycles, dirt bikes, motorcycles, four wheelers, jet skis and boats. When it came to “new” vehicles, he was a Ford and Jeep lover. Over the years he owned and sold more “old” cars than we have time to name. Bruce and Sara loved going to car shows and the annual Lone Star Round Up was a favorite. Bruce would drive his 1932 Ford Coupe and Sara would drive her 1960 Ford Thunderbird. If you have an old vehicle, think of him the next time you take it out on the road.

Bruce was a member of Church of the Savior for 34 years where he oversaw building maintenance for several years before his diagnosis. He was so proud to be a member of a church that matched his beliefs.

Through BDH Construction, Inc., Bruce was also a member of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, Texas Association of Builders and National Association of Home Builders.

Bruce was one of a kind. He was a hard charging construction man who loved to watch the Hallmark Channel…. especially at Christmas. He could string together curse words during the day and pause every evening to say prayers. He loved to go out to eat and often ordered dessert first….making absolutely sure he had room. He was a very neat and tidy person but not obsessively so. He was very romantic and seldom missed an opportunity to send flowers and cards to Sara or grab her and two-step around the kitchen. He was as comfortable in shorts and flip flops as blue jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat. He was extremely generous to both friends and strangers. They truly broke the mold when he was made.

In lieu of flowers, here are contribution ideas he loved:

1)Casa Marianella (One of his clients chose him to remodel Casa Gloria, a home for displaced immigrants under the umbrella of Casa Marianella)

2)Heart of Texas Lab Rescue

3)Church of the Savior

A celebration of life will be held at 2 pm on July 9th at Unity Church of the Hills 9905 Anderson Mill Rd., Austin, Tx. 78750 with a reception in the Friendship Hall following the service. This service may be watched live at httpss://youtu.be/89eJJ4FGB

Please bring a printed or handwritten memory of Bruce. Blank cards will also be available. These memories will be added to a book for the family.