Bruce Deneau

Our deeply loved husband, father and Pop, Bruce Gordon Deneau, 83, passed away Feb. 25, 2020, while in hospice care in Jackson, Michigan. Through four challenging months of increasingly scary health crises, he remained stubborn, high-maintenance and feisty - with poignant outbursts of pure sweetness - until he simply could not. And then, toward the end, he kicked into survival mode with the strength and resilience of an armada of well-trained sailors. He was born on July 1, 1936 - a Wednesday - in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Louis A. and Leona (Karman) Deneau. It didn't take long for Bruce to distinguish himself (also atypically): He was crowned Baby King, which involved a tiny crown, a giant throne and a celebratory parade, and an early report card noted that he was exceptionally coordinated at skipping. Bruce attended Central High School in Kalamazoo, where he met a young Judith Williams. He graduated in 1954, and on July 6, 1957, they married - 2020 would have marked their 63rd anniversary. Bruce joined the U.S. Navy in 1954, serving as a skinny but skilled electrician on the U.S.S. Leyte CV-32 aircraft carrier - at times, his older brother and forever hero, "Sonny," served on the same ship. After his honorable discharge, Bruce attended and graduated from Western Michigan University. He wore his mustard-yellow Bronco sweatshirt for years and years and years. Bruce loved fishing, golfing, gardening, books, newspapers and wildlife drives; never met a home or yard project he couldn't master; and hunted pheasants with his trusted German Shorthair Pointers, Fruen and Skippy (he tried, once, with Shane the Irish Setter, but she hid under the car at the first gunshot). Between his one daughter (Sandy) and his one grandson (Carson), every one of those passions was passed along, although Carson shoots just skeets. A series of manufacturing-management jobs (from Goodyear to Bendix; Atwood; and Mark I, where he retired as president) moved Bruce and his family around the Midwest, where he also participated in Junior Achievement, The American Legion and the West Union (Iowa) Ambassadors. Eventually, he and Judy settled into a home on a lake just south of Jackson. It was that one overarching concept - home - that remained firm in Bruce's mind throughout his illnesses. In that respect, there is joy in imagining Bruce skipping (expertly) toward home, and toward his parents; his brothers, Louis ("Sonny"), Joseph and Dennis Deneau; and many longtime friends. The heartbreak is left for those who are left: wife Judith K. (Williams) Deneau, of Jerome; daughter Sandy Deneau Dunham of Auburn, Washington; grandson Carson Dunham of Sammamish, Washington; sister-in-law Ralene Deneau; first cousin Jim Deneau; nieces and nephews; friends and neighbors; and anyone, really, who knew, and deeply loved, Bruce Gordon Deneau.