Obituary of Denny Bruce

Denny Aaron Bruce, 73, passed away on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, after a brave battle with cancer. He was born on April 1, 1937 in Toledo, Ohio to Fred and Mabel Bruce. After graduation from Clay High School, Denny enlisted in the U.S. Navy (Canoe Club as he called it) and was stationed in California. He fell in love with northern California and chose it as his home when he was discharged. He came to Chico to go to college on the GI Bill. Denny always said he was not much of a student in high school but thrived in the college environment in the behavioral and social sciences. He graduated from Chico State with a degree in psychology and received his Masters in Social Work at Sacramento State. In his career he served the citizens of Butte County, starting in 1970 as a Psychiatric Social Worker for the State of California, the County of Butte and community organizations; and as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice, Clinical and Forensics Consultant, and supervisor and trainer of Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy Interns. He provided counseling services for the clientele of the Butte County Departments of Employment and Social Services, Behavioral Health and Probation. He supported his community through participation on various commissions and committees including the Butte County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission, the Police Chief's Citizen Advisory Committee for the City of Chico and the Criminal Justice Advisory Board for CSU, Chico. He was a resource in Northern California as a consultant providing drug abuse, suicide prevention and mental health services for Butte, Glenn, and Napa counties. In his retirement, Denny took up golf and also volunteered as an ambassador at Bidwell Golf Course. As an ambassador he was a "social worker in a golf cart" and enjoyed interacting with the people he met on Saturday mornings. Denny also enjoyed going to Cal Java for coffee early in the morning, meeting his friends and coffee group, and whenever he traveled to Ferndale ( hometown of his wife Sue) the early morning coffee group at the Cream City Caf‚. Denny is survived by his wife of 36 years, Sue; two sisters in Ohio, and two daughters and granddaughters in Oregon. Denny had a great sense of humor, loved telling and emailing jokes, and play on words. His great sense of humor never left him. In the past few weeks Denny was truly touched by all of the personal contact and support from his friends and the staff at Cal Java. At Denny's request there will be no services. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you donate to your favorite charity.