Major Bruce Allen Brown

Bruce Allen Brown, son of the late Frances L Brown and Pauline J Pugh Brown, died peacefully in his home on January 10, 2025, after a courageous battle with glioblastoma. Bruce was born in Hawthorne, California on May 9, 1951. This began his love affair with the beach that eventually led to retirement on the coast of North Carolina.

Bruce began to show athletic prowess as a child and never looked back. If he wasn’t on the beach snorkeling or body surfing, he could be found riding his bicycle or running. In high school, he participated in cross country, track, and soccer, community cycle racing, as well as earning his BSA Eagle Scout distinction. After graduating West High School in Torrence in 1969, he began attending college, got married to Judy Stanyan, and joined the Marines. What started as a four-year commitment turned into a 25-year military career that took him around the world, serving in such locations as South Korea, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Germany. He was particularly proud that he was asked to join the MECEP Program that allowed him to get an Engineering degree. Prior to leaving the military, he completed his Master’s in Management.

Although proud to be a Marine, he was even prouder of his dad and papa titles. Family meant the world to Bruce, and he was never happier than when he was with his three girls Christi, Catie, and Cyndi, and later his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as his bulldog, Gunny. When he remarried in 2019, he embraced Teri’s children and grandchildren as his own, blossoming the family tree to almost three dozen.

Bruce was also a firm believer in his Savior as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and worked tirelessly to help others as Jesus would have done. For several years before the cancer diagnosis, he served as Assistant Chair for the Calabash Campaign of Toys for Tots, worked in the family history library, and performed pro bono home repairs for families who suffered from hurricane damage.

Bruce loved a good adventure. He spent his early adulthood running marathon and triathlons, skiing, and hang gliding. Once retired, he tried scuba diving and returned to bicycle racing. His grandest adventure happened in 2020 when he and Teri rode 3,102 miles across the United States on a tandem bicycle raising money for Toys for Tots.

Bruce will be remembered as a talented leader, dedicated teacher, and loving husband, father, and grandfather. He was caring, honest, confident, and never made a promise he didn’t keep. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

He is survived by his wife, Teri Mari Bufmeyer Brown, daughters Christi Mechalske (JD), Catie Wine (James), and Cyndi Brown (Tyler), bonus son, Matthew Guin (Mandi), bonus daughters Kimberly Blackmon (Andrew), Rebekah Lester (Joseph), and Katherine Guin (Jamie), grandchildren Stephani Houshvand (Salar), Tylla Wine (Vinny), Rebecca Wine (Ahri), Jamie Wine, Ethan Wine, Camerynn Wine, Robert Guin, Eloise Guin, Emmaline Blackmon, Samuel Blackmon, Joshua Blackmon, and Lyre Dexter, and great granddaughters Hadleigh Endicott and Arya Endicott. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Toys for Tots or Duke Cancer Institute.