Earl "Eddie" Bruce

Taking a break from the Minnesota posts... last week Zach's Great Grandpa Bruce (reagan's great-great grandpa) passed away. He was 95 and so excited to see Heaven!

We made this decision to bring Reagan with us for the whole day (visitation, funeral, burial & dinner.) And we made sure to explain everything to him before hand which wasn't as weird as I thought it might be since we apprently talk and read about Heaven pretty often. He took it all in with sort of a matter-of-fact attitude.

Going down in the quote book:

preface: In the car on the way to there, Zach and I had a conversation with each other about getting new bodies in heaven.

Which semi explains why Reagan proclaimed during the (open casket) visitation: "Take a good look, it's the last time you'll see him like that!"

Everything was really nice, it was so good to see everyone and the dinner at Eastview afterwards was really tasty too.

Here was his obituary:

NORMAL — Earl Edward Bruce, 95, recently of Evergreen Village, Normal, died Friday (Aug. 12, 2011) at Heritage Manor, El Paso.

His service will be at 2 p.m. Monday at Calvert & Metzler Memorial Home, Bloomington. Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery, Waynesville, with the Rev. Jim Smiley officiating. Visitation will be 12 p.m. Monday at the memorial home.

Memorials maybe made to the Eastview Christian Church sports program.

He was born May 31, 1916, in Lincoln, the son of Eddie T. and Lila Shobe Bruce. He married Carol M. Hudson on Dec. 11, 1937, at Kahoka, Mo. She died June 29, 2006.

Survivors include two daughters, Darlene Loy and Barbara Teuscher, both of Normal; one son, Terry (Val) Bruce, Groveland, Calif.; 12 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two grandsons; two great-grandchildren; one brother; and three sisters.

Earl had farmed in Logan County and had worked at Lincoln Developmental Center, Lincoln, as a firefighter for the state of Illinois for 22 years prior to retirement. He was a member of Eastview Christian Church, Normal.

Earl was a former semi-pro baseball player in Springfield. His son, a grandson and a great-grandson all played at one time for The Pantagraph All-Star baseball game. He was a lifelong Cardinals baseball fan.