Bruce Macdonald, 86, of Newton Centre, passed away Thursday April 14 after a period of declining health. Bruce was a life-long resident of Newton, a graduate of Newton High School in 1953 and Harvard College in 1957. He worked for his father in the family business, the Roland B Macdonald Insurance Agency, which he ran for several decades after his father’s retirement. He cared deeply about his customers, their families and their businesses.
Throughout his life Bruce was a very active member of the Second Church in Newton. Singing in the choir was his passion, and during the 1960s and 70s he led the active and well-attended junior choir. He served the church in many official capacities and also in many unofficial ones, simple things like giving people rides to church and visiting the ill and elderly. His time at Harvard was important to him and he became an active fundraiser for the scholarship fund.
Bruce was a man who helped people, a legacy he continued from his parents, Roland and Priscilla. During the Second World War his family took in a child who had been evacuated from London. Bridie became another sister to Bruce and his sister Carol, lived with them through the end of the war, and is a beloved family member to this day. When Carol was widowed with three young children Bruce stepped in as a caring, involved uncle to them. He gave his time to people and organizations in need until, in the last few years, he was no longer able to do so, which frustrated him terribly.
Bruce’s first marriage was to Audrey Santen and they had four children, Laura, Andrew, John and Peter, before going their separate ways. In 1976 Bruce married Susan Stone and they moved into the home in Newton Centre where they spent their lives together. Susan was a wonderful artist and musician, running (with Bruce’s assistance) her company Brown Bag Opera, which brought opera to school children. Bruce and Susan enjoyed attending symphony in Boston and Tanglewood, tropical vacations, trips throughout New England, events with Bruce’s children, and with Susan’s children Elizabeth and Sheryl. They travelled extensively in Europe, where Bruce spoke fluent French, in the United Kingdom, where he visited Bridie and her family, as well as friends and places from his study abroad at Magdalene College School in Oxford, and in the United States. Wherever he went he was the center of attention, telling stories and spontaneously bursting into song.
After Susan’s death in 2010 Bruce continued to visit his sons in Colorado, Kentucky and Germany. Together with his longtime friend June Shanabrook, he continued to enjoy the symphony, theatre, traveling and visiting.
He is survived by his sisters, Carol Murdoch and Bridie Luis Fuentes and her husband Pepe; children Laura Utano and her husband Frank, Andrew and his wife Christine, John, and Peter and his wife Britta; also his stepdaughters Elizabeth Cohen Pratt and her husband David, and Sheryl Cohen and her husband John; grandchildren Christopher Allen, Brooks Macdonald and Allison Macdonald, and three great-grandsons. A memorial service in celebration of Bruce’s life will be held Saturday, June 25, 10:00 a.m. at Second Church in Newton. Donations in Bruce’s memory can be made to Second Church.
