Bruce M. Tanner
Resident of Saratoga
Died peacefully in his sleep at the Saratoga, California, home he shared with his wife, Carolyn, on Friday morning, July 6, 2012; he was surrounded by his wife and three children when he went to sleep for the last time. He was 88, and had been suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Bruce was born in 1924 in Idaho Falls, the third of three sons, to Orea Bean Tanner and Bertrand Myron Tanner. Bruce's father died when he was six months old, and his mother raised him with his two older brothers until the U.S. entered World War II. They had moved from Idaho to Provo, Utah (his parents' birthplace) when Bruce was six years old; there they moved five times in four years, finally settling in the house his mother built with the life insurance proceeds from his father's untimely death. He attended Brigham Young Elementary School and Brigham Young High School, later transferring to Provo Central High, where he served as Senior Class President. He remained close to and regularly communicated with several of his childhood friends over the years, at least one of whom he had known since they were six years old. His marriage in 1981 to Carolyn Bridgers lasted 31 years, and gave him great happiness, something he mentioned to his children often. He attended the University of Washington before transferring to, and receiving his bachelor's degree from, Brigham Young University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He held a Master's degree in Public Administration from San Jose State University. Bruce was still in his last year of high school when the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, and after attending an aircraft instrument school in Logan, Utah, he enlisted in the Army Air Force ("AAF"), which immediately sent him to Meteorology school at Pomona College in California. He deployed to the Middle East, and later Masirah Island in the Indian Ocean, as an AAF meteorologist. Although he was in New York City on VJ-Day, he had just arrived at the nearest Army base from overseas, and could not get a pass signed as no one was available to sign it: he was forced to listen to the renowned Times Square celebrations on the radio as they were occurring just a few miles from where he was. After discharging from the AAF as a corporal in February 1946, he attended UW and BYU, and eventually found employment with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, working on large public works, before getting a position with Stanlin Oil and Gas, where he worked primarily in Oklahoma. In 1957, as he had taken a new position as an Urban Planner for the County of Santa Clara (a position he would hold until his retirement in 1984), he left for California and made it his home for the rest of his life.
After taking an early retirement at age 60, he and his wife Carolyn launched an ambitious plan to travel. Throughout his life he was an avid reader, and an even more avid purchaser of books, always assuming that he could get to the books he purchased today "sometime in the future." It was, then, doubly tragic when he began to go blind from macular degeneration in his late seventies, just before effective treatments for the disease began to appear. By the time clinical treatments were available, he was for most practical purposes, blind. The majority of the books he had procured to enjoy in his retirement would remain inaccessible to him, and when he died, he left extensive and full bookshelves, in addition to boxes upon boxes of books, many unread. But he focused on those things that he could continue to enjoy, including radio and television news, audio books, music, conversation and food, each of which assumed outsized positions of importance in his life to replace the activities in which he could no longer engage, and he woke every day with a near-unimpeachable joie de vivre that astonished those around him. Although he had a reputation of self-imposed frugality with respect to his own expenses, he was uncommonly generous to individuals and charitable organizations alike (local church and secular aid organizations, American Indian charities, etc.), in addition to those organizations he felt were engaged in the broader public good (Zero Population Growth, public television and radio, etc.), to the point that loved ones counseled that he curtail his donations at least somewhat to ensure his retirement accounts lasted through retirement (advice which he acknowledged with genuine gratitude, then summarily ignored). By general consensus, his most unusual traits were honesty and loyalty, examples of which are legion. And while his honesty could sometimes be painful, the surprising salve of his loyalty often softened its sting. He spared few opportunities to express and demonstrate his love to his wife and children, and they loved him well in return.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Bridgers Tanner; children John Tanner, Amy Fall and Margaret Angelopoulos; children-in-law Jane Tanner, Jerry Fall and Spiros Angelopoulos, grandchildren David Tanner, Bruce Tanner, Alexandra Fall, Christine Fall, Gabrielle Fall and Nicolas Angelopoulos, and many nephews, nieces, their children, and their children's children. Bruce was predeceased first by his brother Robert Leigh Tanner, who died from injuries received in a sailplane accident, then by his brother Champ Bean Tanner, who died of pancreatic cancer, both in 1990.
A memorial service will be held at a banquet facility located at the base of Coyote Peak, which Bruce hiked so many times with his children when they were young; the facility is part of the Santa Teresa Golf Club located at 260 Bernal Rd., San Jose [phone: (408) 225-2650], on Saturday, July 21 at 3:00 pm. As he requested, Bruce's ashes shall be spread upon the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Asilomar Beach, the site of his honeymoon with Carolyn Bridgers, at a time to be determined. You may call John Tanner at (858) 344-8087 for more information.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on July 12, 2012.
Resident of Saratoga
Died peacefully in his sleep at the Saratoga, California, home he shared with his wife, Carolyn, on Friday morning, July 6, 2012; he was surrounded by his wife and three children when he went to sleep for the last time. He was 88, and had been suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Bruce was born in 1924 in Idaho Falls, the third of three sons, to Orea Bean Tanner and Bertrand Myron Tanner. Bruce's father died when he was six months old, and his mother raised him with his two older brothers until the U.S. entered World War II. They had moved from Idaho to Provo, Utah (his parents' birthplace) when Bruce was six years old; there they moved five times in four years, finally settling in the house his mother built with the life insurance proceeds from his father's untimely death. He attended Brigham Young Elementary School and Brigham Young High School, later transferring to Provo Central High, where he served as Senior Class President. He remained close to and regularly communicated with several of his childhood friends over the years, at least one of whom he had known since they were six years old. His marriage in 1981 to Carolyn Bridgers lasted 31 years, and gave him great happiness, something he mentioned to his children often. He attended the University of Washington before transferring to, and receiving his bachelor's degree from, Brigham Young University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He held a Master's degree in Public Administration from San Jose State University. Bruce was still in his last year of high school when the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, and after attending an aircraft instrument school in Logan, Utah, he enlisted in the Army Air Force ("AAF"), which immediately sent him to Meteorology school at Pomona College in California. He deployed to the Middle East, and later Masirah Island in the Indian Ocean, as an AAF meteorologist. Although he was in New York City on VJ-Day, he had just arrived at the nearest Army base from overseas, and could not get a pass signed as no one was available to sign it: he was forced to listen to the renowned Times Square celebrations on the radio as they were occurring just a few miles from where he was. After discharging from the AAF as a corporal in February 1946, he attended UW and BYU, and eventually found employment with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, working on large public works, before getting a position with Stanlin Oil and Gas, where he worked primarily in Oklahoma. In 1957, as he had taken a new position as an Urban Planner for the County of Santa Clara (a position he would hold until his retirement in 1984), he left for California and made it his home for the rest of his life.
After taking an early retirement at age 60, he and his wife Carolyn launched an ambitious plan to travel. Throughout his life he was an avid reader, and an even more avid purchaser of books, always assuming that he could get to the books he purchased today "sometime in the future." It was, then, doubly tragic when he began to go blind from macular degeneration in his late seventies, just before effective treatments for the disease began to appear. By the time clinical treatments were available, he was for most practical purposes, blind. The majority of the books he had procured to enjoy in his retirement would remain inaccessible to him, and when he died, he left extensive and full bookshelves, in addition to boxes upon boxes of books, many unread. But he focused on those things that he could continue to enjoy, including radio and television news, audio books, music, conversation and food, each of which assumed outsized positions of importance in his life to replace the activities in which he could no longer engage, and he woke every day with a near-unimpeachable joie de vivre that astonished those around him. Although he had a reputation of self-imposed frugality with respect to his own expenses, he was uncommonly generous to individuals and charitable organizations alike (local church and secular aid organizations, American Indian charities, etc.), in addition to those organizations he felt were engaged in the broader public good (Zero Population Growth, public television and radio, etc.), to the point that loved ones counseled that he curtail his donations at least somewhat to ensure his retirement accounts lasted through retirement (advice which he acknowledged with genuine gratitude, then summarily ignored). By general consensus, his most unusual traits were honesty and loyalty, examples of which are legion. And while his honesty could sometimes be painful, the surprising salve of his loyalty often softened its sting. He spared few opportunities to express and demonstrate his love to his wife and children, and they loved him well in return.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Bridgers Tanner; children John Tanner, Amy Fall and Margaret Angelopoulos; children-in-law Jane Tanner, Jerry Fall and Spiros Angelopoulos, grandchildren David Tanner, Bruce Tanner, Alexandra Fall, Christine Fall, Gabrielle Fall and Nicolas Angelopoulos, and many nephews, nieces, their children, and their children's children. Bruce was predeceased first by his brother Robert Leigh Tanner, who died from injuries received in a sailplane accident, then by his brother Champ Bean Tanner, who died of pancreatic cancer, both in 1990.
A memorial service will be held at a banquet facility located at the base of Coyote Peak, which Bruce hiked so many times with his children when they were young; the facility is part of the Santa Teresa Golf Club located at 260 Bernal Rd., San Jose [phone: (408) 225-2650], on Saturday, July 21 at 3:00 pm. As he requested, Bruce's ashes shall be spread upon the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Asilomar Beach, the site of his honeymoon with Carolyn Bridgers, at a time to be determined. You may call John Tanner at (858) 344-8087 for more information.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on July 12, 2012.
Bruce M. Tanner
Resident of Saratoga
Died peacefully in his sleep at the Saratoga, California, home he shared with his wife, Carolyn, on Friday morning, July 6, 2012; he was surrounded by his wife and three children when he went to sleep for the last time. He was 88, and had been suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Bruce was born in 1924 in Idaho Falls, the third of three sons, to Orea Bean Tanner and Bertrand Myron Tanner. Bruce's father died when he was six months old, and his mother raised him with his two older brothers until the U.S. entered World War II. They had moved from Idaho to Provo, Utah (his parents' birthplace) when Bruce was six years old; there they moved five times in four years, finally settling in the house his mother built with the life insurance proceeds from his father's untimely death. He attended Brigham Young Elementary School and Brigham Young High School, later transferring to Provo Central High, where he served as Senior Class President. He remained close to and regularly communicated with several of his childhood friends over the years, at least one of whom he had known since they were six years old. His marriage in 1981 to Carolyn Bridgers lasted 31 years, and gave him great happiness, something he mentioned to his children often. He attended the University of Washington before transferring to, and receiving his bachelor's degree from, Brigham Young University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He held a Master's degree in Public Administration from San Jose State University. Bruce was still in his last year of high school when the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, and after attending an aircraft instrument school in Logan, Utah, he enlisted in the Army Air Force ("AAF"), which immediately sent him to Meteorology school at Pomona College in California. He deployed to the Middle East, and later Masirah Island in the Indian Ocean, as an AAF meteorologist. Although he was in New York City on VJ-Day, he had just arrived at the nearest Army base from overseas, and could not get a pass signed as no one was available to sign it: he was forced to listen to the renowned Times Square celebrations on the radio as they were occurring just a few miles from where he was. After discharging from the AAF as a corporal in February 1946, he attended UW and BYU, and eventually found employment with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, working on large public works, before getting a position with Stanlin Oil and Gas, where he worked primarily in Oklahoma. In 1957, as he had taken a new position as an Urban Planner for the County of Santa Clara (a position he would hold until his retirement in 1984), he left for California and made it his home for the rest of his life.
After taking an early retirement at age 60, he and his wife Carolyn launched an ambitious plan to travel. Throughout his life he was an avid reader, and an even more avid purchaser of books, always assuming that he could get to the books he purchased today "sometime in the future." It was, then, doubly tragic when he began to go blind from macular degeneration in his late seventies, just before effective treatments for the disease began to appear. By the time clinical treatments were available, he was for most practical purposes, blind. The majority of the books he had procured to enjoy in his retirement would remain inaccessible to him, and when he died, he left extensive and full bookshelves, in addition to boxes upon boxes of books, many unread. But he focused on those things that he could continue to enjoy, including radio and television news, audio books, music, conversation and food, each of which assumed outsized positions of importance in his life to replace the activities in which he could no longer engage, and he woke every day with a near-unimpeachable joie de vivre that astonished those around him. Although he had a reputation of self-imposed frugality with respect to his own expenses, he was uncommonly generous to individuals and charitable organizations alike (local church and secular aid organizations, American Indian charities, etc.), in addition to those organizations he felt were engaged in the broader public good (Zero Population Growth, public television and radio, etc.), to the point that loved ones counseled that he curtail his donations at least somewhat to ensure his retirement accounts lasted through retirement (advice which he acknowledged with genuine gratitude, then summarily ignored). By general consensus, his most unusual traits were honesty and loyalty, examples of which are legion. And while his honesty could sometimes be painful, the surprising salve of his loyalty often softened its sting. He spared few opportunities to express and demonstrate his love to his wife and children, and they loved him well in return.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Bridgers Tanner; children John Tanner, Amy Fall and Margaret Angelopoulos; children-in-law Jane Tanner, Jerry Fall and Spiros Angelopoulos, grandchildren David Tanner, Bruce Tanner, Alexandra Fall, Christine Fall, Gabrielle Fall and Nicolas Angelopoulos, and many nephews, nieces, their children, and their children's children. Bruce was predeceased first by his brother Robert Leigh Tanner, who died from injuries received in a sailplane accident, then by his brother Champ Bean Tanner, who died of pancreatic cancer, both in 1990.
A memorial service will be held at a banquet facility located at the base of Coyote Peak, which Bruce hiked so many times with his children when they were young; the facility is part of the Santa Teresa Golf Club located at 260 Bernal Rd., San Jose [phone: (408) 225-2650], on Saturday, July 21 at 3:00 pm. As he requested, Bruce's ashes shall be spread upon the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Asilomar Beach, the site of his honeymoon with Carolyn Bridgers, at a time to be determined. You may call John Tanner at (858) 344-8087 for more information.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on July 12, 2012.
Resident of Saratoga
Died peacefully in his sleep at the Saratoga, California, home he shared with his wife, Carolyn, on Friday morning, July 6, 2012; he was surrounded by his wife and three children when he went to sleep for the last time. He was 88, and had been suffering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.
Bruce was born in 1924 in Idaho Falls, the third of three sons, to Orea Bean Tanner and Bertrand Myron Tanner. Bruce's father died when he was six months old, and his mother raised him with his two older brothers until the U.S. entered World War II. They had moved from Idaho to Provo, Utah (his parents' birthplace) when Bruce was six years old; there they moved five times in four years, finally settling in the house his mother built with the life insurance proceeds from his father's untimely death. He attended Brigham Young Elementary School and Brigham Young High School, later transferring to Provo Central High, where he served as Senior Class President. He remained close to and regularly communicated with several of his childhood friends over the years, at least one of whom he had known since they were six years old. His marriage in 1981 to Carolyn Bridgers lasted 31 years, and gave him great happiness, something he mentioned to his children often. He attended the University of Washington before transferring to, and receiving his bachelor's degree from, Brigham Young University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He held a Master's degree in Public Administration from San Jose State University. Bruce was still in his last year of high school when the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941, and after attending an aircraft instrument school in Logan, Utah, he enlisted in the Army Air Force ("AAF"), which immediately sent him to Meteorology school at Pomona College in California. He deployed to the Middle East, and later Masirah Island in the Indian Ocean, as an AAF meteorologist. Although he was in New York City on VJ-Day, he had just arrived at the nearest Army base from overseas, and could not get a pass signed as no one was available to sign it: he was forced to listen to the renowned Times Square celebrations on the radio as they were occurring just a few miles from where he was. After discharging from the AAF as a corporal in February 1946, he attended UW and BYU, and eventually found employment with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation, working on large public works, before getting a position with Stanlin Oil and Gas, where he worked primarily in Oklahoma. In 1957, as he had taken a new position as an Urban Planner for the County of Santa Clara (a position he would hold until his retirement in 1984), he left for California and made it his home for the rest of his life.
After taking an early retirement at age 60, he and his wife Carolyn launched an ambitious plan to travel. Throughout his life he was an avid reader, and an even more avid purchaser of books, always assuming that he could get to the books he purchased today "sometime in the future." It was, then, doubly tragic when he began to go blind from macular degeneration in his late seventies, just before effective treatments for the disease began to appear. By the time clinical treatments were available, he was for most practical purposes, blind. The majority of the books he had procured to enjoy in his retirement would remain inaccessible to him, and when he died, he left extensive and full bookshelves, in addition to boxes upon boxes of books, many unread. But he focused on those things that he could continue to enjoy, including radio and television news, audio books, music, conversation and food, each of which assumed outsized positions of importance in his life to replace the activities in which he could no longer engage, and he woke every day with a near-unimpeachable joie de vivre that astonished those around him. Although he had a reputation of self-imposed frugality with respect to his own expenses, he was uncommonly generous to individuals and charitable organizations alike (local church and secular aid organizations, American Indian charities, etc.), in addition to those organizations he felt were engaged in the broader public good (Zero Population Growth, public television and radio, etc.), to the point that loved ones counseled that he curtail his donations at least somewhat to ensure his retirement accounts lasted through retirement (advice which he acknowledged with genuine gratitude, then summarily ignored). By general consensus, his most unusual traits were honesty and loyalty, examples of which are legion. And while his honesty could sometimes be painful, the surprising salve of his loyalty often softened its sting. He spared few opportunities to express and demonstrate his love to his wife and children, and they loved him well in return.
He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Bridgers Tanner; children John Tanner, Amy Fall and Margaret Angelopoulos; children-in-law Jane Tanner, Jerry Fall and Spiros Angelopoulos, grandchildren David Tanner, Bruce Tanner, Alexandra Fall, Christine Fall, Gabrielle Fall and Nicolas Angelopoulos, and many nephews, nieces, their children, and their children's children. Bruce was predeceased first by his brother Robert Leigh Tanner, who died from injuries received in a sailplane accident, then by his brother Champ Bean Tanner, who died of pancreatic cancer, both in 1990.
A memorial service will be held at a banquet facility located at the base of Coyote Peak, which Bruce hiked so many times with his children when they were young; the facility is part of the Santa Teresa Golf Club located at 260 Bernal Rd., San Jose [phone: (408) 225-2650], on Saturday, July 21 at 3:00 pm. As he requested, Bruce's ashes shall be spread upon the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Asilomar Beach, the site of his honeymoon with Carolyn Bridgers, at a time to be determined. You may call John Tanner at (858) 344-8087 for more information.
Published in San Jose Mercury News/San Mateo County Times on July 12, 2012.
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