Here is my version of how things happened and I hope that it won't offend anyone in anyway. I simply want to honour his memory no matter what our personal experiences turned out to be. Thank you so much for allowing me to express my viewpoint and feelings about this part of my life.
Before his death, Bruce had been staying at my mother’s place off and on and as he was so much a part of mine and my families lives, my mom would quite often baby sit his young son. Needless to say he was very close to my family even after we were no longer "sweethearts" he continued to be a big part of their lives until his death.
This is the way I heard the accident happened. His cousin from Buffalo NY (where Bruce was born) was visiting LA. He was driving and tried to make a left hand turn off York Boulevard but miscalculated the distance between his car and an RTD bus coming towards them. The bus hit Bruce and his young son straight on. Unfortunately car seats were not mandatory at that time and it seems the child was sitting on his lap. Both Bruce and his son passed away shortly after the incident. It saddens me to say that neither of them were buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, which seemed very wrong as we all IJHS grads have had in some way a connection to that place. It was such a huge part of our lives landscape.
Bruce was a kind person, a friend, a husband, a father, a promising artist, he loved his family and lived a full life in his short time here with us. I would like to thank him for our time together and hope that someday we will meet again and have a chance to really talk things over. Even after all these years I miss him as I know so many of you do as well.
Thank you.
Grace Garcia Sutcliffe - England
Bruce married Carla J. Cottingham January 1, 1980 of Los Angeles, CA
IRVING GRADUATION: Class of 1974
BORN: June 1, 1959 in New York
DIED: August 11, 1982 - Highland Park, Los Angeles County, CA
CAUSE OF DEATH: Automobile Accident - Also passing away in the crash was Bruce's two year old son Cory Anthony Barbuto.
MARRIED: January 1, 1980
SPOUSE: Carla J. Cottingham
Before his death, Bruce had been staying at my mother’s place off and on and as he was so much a part of mine and my families lives, my mom would quite often baby sit his young son. Needless to say he was very close to my family even after we were no longer "sweethearts" he continued to be a big part of their lives until his death.
This is the way I heard the accident happened. His cousin from Buffalo NY (where Bruce was born) was visiting LA. He was driving and tried to make a left hand turn off York Boulevard but miscalculated the distance between his car and an RTD bus coming towards them. The bus hit Bruce and his young son straight on. Unfortunately car seats were not mandatory at that time and it seems the child was sitting on his lap. Both Bruce and his son passed away shortly after the incident. It saddens me to say that neither of them were buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, which seemed very wrong as we all IJHS grads have had in some way a connection to that place. It was such a huge part of our lives landscape.
Bruce was a kind person, a friend, a husband, a father, a promising artist, he loved his family and lived a full life in his short time here with us. I would like to thank him for our time together and hope that someday we will meet again and have a chance to really talk things over. Even after all these years I miss him as I know so many of you do as well.
Thank you.
Grace Garcia Sutcliffe - England
Bruce married Carla J. Cottingham January 1, 1980 of Los Angeles, CA
IRVING GRADUATION: Class of 1974
BORN: June 1, 1959 in New York
DIED: August 11, 1982 - Highland Park, Los Angeles County, CA
CAUSE OF DEATH: Automobile Accident - Also passing away in the crash was Bruce's two year old son Cory Anthony Barbuto.
MARRIED: January 1, 1980
SPOUSE: Carla J. Cottingham
Here is my version of how things happened and I hope that it won't offend anyone in anyway. I simply want to honour his memory no matter what our personal experiences turned out to be. Thank you so much for allowing me to express my viewpoint and feelings about this part of my life.
Before his death, Bruce had been staying at my mother’s place off and on and as he was so much a part of mine and my families lives, my mom would quite often baby sit his young son. Needless to say he was very close to my family even after we were no longer "sweethearts" he continued to be a big part of their lives until his death.
This is the way I heard the accident happened. His cousin from Buffalo NY (where Bruce was born) was visiting LA. He was driving and tried to make a left hand turn off York Boulevard but miscalculated the distance between his car and an RTD bus coming towards them. The bus hit Bruce and his young son straight on. Unfortunately car seats were not mandatory at that time and it seems the child was sitting on his lap. Both Bruce and his son passed away shortly after the incident. It saddens me to say that neither of them were buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, which seemed very wrong as we all IJHS grads have had in some way a connection to that place. It was such a huge part of our lives landscape.
Bruce was a kind person, a friend, a husband, a father, a promising artist, he loved his family and lived a full life in his short time here with us. I would like to thank him for our time together and hope that someday we will meet again and have a chance to really talk things over. Even after all these years I miss him as I know so many of you do as well.
Thank you.
Grace Garcia Sutcliffe - England
Bruce married Carla J. Cottingham January 1, 1980 of Los Angeles, CA
IRVING GRADUATION: Class of 1974
BORN: June 1, 1959 in New York
DIED: August 11, 1982 - Highland Park, Los Angeles County, CA
CAUSE OF DEATH: Automobile Accident - Also passing away in the crash was Bruce's two year old son Cory Anthony Barbuto.
MARRIED: January 1, 1980
SPOUSE: Carla J. Cottingham
Before his death, Bruce had been staying at my mother’s place off and on and as he was so much a part of mine and my families lives, my mom would quite often baby sit his young son. Needless to say he was very close to my family even after we were no longer "sweethearts" he continued to be a big part of their lives until his death.
This is the way I heard the accident happened. His cousin from Buffalo NY (where Bruce was born) was visiting LA. He was driving and tried to make a left hand turn off York Boulevard but miscalculated the distance between his car and an RTD bus coming towards them. The bus hit Bruce and his young son straight on. Unfortunately car seats were not mandatory at that time and it seems the child was sitting on his lap. Both Bruce and his son passed away shortly after the incident. It saddens me to say that neither of them were buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, which seemed very wrong as we all IJHS grads have had in some way a connection to that place. It was such a huge part of our lives landscape.
Bruce was a kind person, a friend, a husband, a father, a promising artist, he loved his family and lived a full life in his short time here with us. I would like to thank him for our time together and hope that someday we will meet again and have a chance to really talk things over. Even after all these years I miss him as I know so many of you do as well.
Thank you.
Grace Garcia Sutcliffe - England
Bruce married Carla J. Cottingham January 1, 1980 of Los Angeles, CA
IRVING GRADUATION: Class of 1974
BORN: June 1, 1959 in New York
DIED: August 11, 1982 - Highland Park, Los Angeles County, CA
CAUSE OF DEATH: Automobile Accident - Also passing away in the crash was Bruce's two year old son Cory Anthony Barbuto.
MARRIED: January 1, 1980
SPOUSE: Carla J. Cottingham
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