“Jack”
Age 88, died peacefully on May 28, 2019 at St. Johns on the Lake in Milwaukee. He is survived by his daughter Stephanie (Mitch) Cox and son Andrew (Libby) Bruce, his brother Calvin (Cathy) Bruce and grandsons Douglas Bruce, Stephen (Katherine) Cox, Jeffrey Cox, Bradley Cox and Riley Bruce. He is preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Lilias Bruce, and sister Sally Bruce Snyder.
Jack grew up in Fox Point, Wisconsin to parents Harriett Edgell Bruce and Jackson M Bruce, Sr. Jack attended Milwaukee Country Day School, Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University. He then received a scholarship to study law at Caius College, Cambridge University. While studying at Cambridge, he married Lilias Morehouse, also from Milwaukee. They lived in England for two years while Jack completed his master’s degree and then returned to Cambridge, MA so Jack could attend Harvard Law School. After receiving his law degree, Jack and Lil and baby Stephanie returned to their hometown of Milwaukee and Jack joined his father’s law firm, which became Quarles and Brady. After he retired from Quarles and Brady at age 65, Jack continued his legal career as a partner at Dunwoody, White and Landon in Naples, FL and of counsel with Michael Best in Milwaukee.
Jack had a long and distinguished law career in the field of Trusts and Estate planning. He held numerous leadership positions in the both the state and national bar associations including President of the Milwaukee Bar Association, Chairman of the Board of the State Bar of Wisconsin, Chairman of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the American Bar Association and President of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He was also active in non-profits including legal counsel for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and a board member and secretary of St. John’s on the Lake.
Jack and Lil lived for over 40 years in their beautiful home on Lake Michigan in Bayside, WI but they also spent a significant amount of time in their second home in Naples, FL. Jack and Lil enjoyed traveling the world with friends; but Jack always appreciated his Wisconsin roots and his close circle of friends and family in Milwaukee. He loved and was very proud and supportive of his family, and particularly in recent years of his five grandsons.
Memorial service will be held Tuesday, June 4, 2019 at 2:00pm, at ST. CHRISTOPHER’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 7845 N. River Rd., River Hills. A reception will follow at the Town Club, 7950 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Fox Point. In lieu of flowers, memorials to The Columbia St. Mary’s Polly and Bill Van Dyke Cancer Centers and Schlitz Audubon Nature Center appreciated.
