I’m remembered as “Joe Bruce”, but when I went to college, I went only by “Bruce” which is how I’ve been referred to ever since. Some people call me “J. B.” but “Bruce” is more commonly used.
I was born June 3, 1942, in Wewoka, Oklahoma. My dad worked for the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and was transferred from Wewoka to Clinton and eventually to Enid where I attended school from kindergarten through high school. After graduation, I attended Oklahoma City University where I majored in music. I transferred from there to Central State University in Edmond where I majored in English. I graduated from there in 1965. In July 1965 I married Mary Elizabeth Gray of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
We moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, where we both taught in the public schools. Our daughter Shannon was born there in January of 1969. The following summer, we moved to Ft. Smith where I taught English in the high school and Mary worked as a medical transcriptionist in a local hospital. Our son Christopher was born in Ft. Smith in April of 1970. Our children have given us four grandchildren. Mary passed away last year. In addition to teaching, I worked as choir master at an Episcopal church. Later, I accepted a position as organist at a Catholic church where I served eleven years. After that position, I took a post as organist at a Presbyterian church where I worked for five years. I later took a job as Music Director at a Catholic church which I held for twenty-one years. I retired from that position in 2018 and currently serve as organist at a small Episcopal church. Some years ago, I became interested in writing, especially poetry. I have had some success in that venture with a few awards and publications, the first of which was in a newspaper circulated in Wewoka, Oklahoma, where I was born.