Bruce Collister

Bruce Collister (May 3, 1950-May 4, 2020)

We lost Bruce Collister on May 4th 2020, just one day after his 70th Birthday. Bruce passed peacefully with his wife Linda by his side at the Hospice Care Center in Grand Junction after a hard-hitting fight against a fast-moving cancer.

Bruce was born, and spent his early childhood in Detroit, Michigan. When he wasn’t riding his bike around Edward Hines Park with his brothers Scott and Mark, he was hanging in the family basement learning mechanics from his father, Geoffrey. He moved with his family to Elyria, Ohio at the age of 11 where he graduated from Elyria High School in 1968. He spent much of his time off from studies on road trips with his group of buddies, “The Happy Trails.”

In the fall of 1968, he headed for college at Maryville College, Tennessee, where he was enrolled for the academic year of ‘68/’69, after which Bruce worked for several years at the Edwards Sunoco back in Elysia and for US Steel in Lorain, Ohio. The long-haired Golden Boy became hooked on cool wheels during these years; owning a Triumph Spitfire convertible, a Jaguar sedan named “Jack,” and a Norton motorcycle. When horizontal speed wasn’t enough, he got vertical and took up skydiving.

Bruce was drafted into the Army in 1972 and was stationed at Fort Polk, Louisiana; Fort Ord, California; and Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana before being promoted to Sargent in charge of data conversion into the computer age at the Presidio in San Francisco. He remained in the Bay Area for over 40 years. It was here that he met the love of his life and future wife, Linda Rose, and began his lifelong career as a master craftsman woodworker, finish carpenter, home renovator, and general contractor.

At some point (late 70’s?), he discovered the slick rock country of Utah and would spend as much time as possible hiking  the canyonlands and rafting the Rogue River and American and Stanislaus Rivers in California,  especially with his friend Dewey and brother Scott. He also, along with Linda, became charter members of what would evolve over the years into the car-camping (almost glamping) group known as the CCCCCCCC (California and Colorado Cocktail Cannabis Conversation Culinary and Camping Club—or something like that). Many happy, and somewhat crazy, days were spent in the wilds of California, Utah, and Nevada in the club’s attempts to get as far away from civilization as possible without leaving any of the comforts of home (including Bruce’s amazing outdoor shower) or high-brow eclectic cuisine behind! The “Brewster” as he came to be known, was an avid outdoorsman yet enjoyed having all the creature comforts when he camped and, he had the truck to haul them in!

Bruce became interested in, and consequently educated about, collectible coins and precious metals, and he took over a business in Santa Rosa, California, where he ran a successful business for 5 years and, as he told his friends, “almost never turned down anything that anyone brought in to sell or trade.” One never knew what to expect in the packages and envelopes that he would liberally gift to his friends and family during those years. He developed a keen sense for discovering the rare and unusual metal treasures kept in people’s dressers.

He and Linda built a life together in the Bay Area over several decades, living primarily in Marin County. They enjoyed travelling and eating at roadside diners. Together they visited many National Parks West of the Mississippi. He and Linda took great pride in raising their 4-legged pal Nick from puppyhood. Nick would later become a trained therapy dog and remained a central focal point in their lives.

In 2018, Bruce and Linda, along with their beloved golden retriever, Nick, moved to Grand Junction, Colorado where friends Marsha and Curls and brother Scott live, and closer to his beloved desert and wide-open landscapes. It was here he lived out his retirement years: active and adventurous to the end. He never knew a book or article about nearly any subject that he didn’t consider worth reading. Right up until the end, if someone would ask Bruce a question, he could provide you with an answer that would drive deep into the subject, whether it be the new plants and birds he was discovering in western Colorado, or the nature of the cancer that he was battling within his body. The state of his health or the state of the universe.

Words that friends came up with when thinking about Bruce have included: smart, knowledgeable, skilled, honest, reliable, dedicated, persistent, caring, creature of comfort, and perfectionist. Oh yes, and “dry” when it comes to his ever-present sense of humor—punctuated with that distinctive chuckle of his!

Bruce, You live on in our souls every time we perform a task that you either taught us how to do, or taught us a better way of doing: be it extracting a stripped screw from a sheet of metal or fixing a cantankerous Coleman stove. Getting to the top of a cliff and back down again, or appreciating the workmanship of a handmade wooden boat. We miss you, Brewster.

Brother, Mark, has provided the following insights and sentiments regarding the life and times of Bruce; our brother, our friend and the dearest loving husband.

“Things come to me more as impressions of his character than episodes or specific occasions.  This is sort of like when you were asking for words to describe Bruce.  His intellectual curiosity would cause him to completely commit to comprehensive studies of medical and scientific topics (i.e. plowing through medical journals for bedtime reading), studying the heavens with a telescope, or immersing himself in every book concerning the Civil War he could lay his hands on.  When opening the coin store Bruce tried to learn all he could to determine the tiny distinctions between routine coins and rare treasure.  Even when he was ill, Bruce had the ability to somewhat remove himself personally to analyze the situation dispassionately.   Assigned studies did not often engage him, but whatever topics, even esoteric ones, that piqued Bruce’s curiosity would trigger a fully committed pursuit of total comprehension.
Bruce always loved to physically challenge himself by rafting and rock climbing, adding the appreciation of water dynamics and mineral studies along with the adventures.  While scaling a sheer cliff (“I can climb that!”), adventure was always combined with intellectual engagement.
Similarly, constructing houses, boats, furniture, repairing engines, etc., all involved not just the tasks at hand but lead to the implications of all functioning well and what use they would have.  Bruce was fascinated with exotic woods and would incorporate them into all projects, hoping others would also appreciate the individual beauty of nature that he found.  This reverence for fine materials went along with the meticulous craftsmanship Bruce imparted with all he created, a soulful connection between Bruce and the materials used, and also between himself and others who would use or otherwise encounter his loving creations.
This connection between Bruce and material items was a concrete manifestation of how he related to people.  The integrity and honesty he appreciated in his creations and the components used in them were no different from what he responded to, and offered, in his dealings with others.  Straight talk was the only language Bruce spoke, and those who responded in kind were met with accessibility and friendship.  Bruce always walked with his head held high.