Bruce Bunde

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True to the Chairman’s words, Bruce Bunde lived life right: a loving family, a host of friends, and a life earmarked with kindness, service, and learning.

“I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, [a] fine family — and I don’t think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.”
Frank Sinatra

Bruce Alan Bunde, 76, of Lincoln succumbed to cancer on December 26, 2024. He was born in Hastings and spent part of his childhood in both Grand Island and Cozad, where he graduated from high school in 1966. Subsequently, he studied at and graduated from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, proudly serving in the Cornhusker Marching Band.

In 1971, Bruce was called to serve in the Army. While in basic training, he met three fellow draftees who would become lifelong friends (along with their eventual wives and children).

Following his service in the military, Bruce returned to Lincoln and earned his Masters degree at UNL, developing an interest in Greek, Roman, and Egyptian history that endured for the remainder of his life.

In 1978, he moved to Chicago and began a 30-year career with the Social Security Administration. There, he met and, in 1980, married Marge, the woman who would be by his side for nearly 45 years. Together, they were blessed with three children who were the pride and joy of Bruce’s life.

The family returned to Nebraska in 1985. Upon retirement in 2006, Bruce began his long and hard-fought battle with cancer. During his battle, Bruce was the recipient of two stem cell transplants and a transplanted kidney (thank you, Paula).

Throughout his life, Bruce was an avid reader, accumulating approximately 5000 mostly-nonfiction books encompassing history, music, politics, biographies, more history and, uncharacteristically, Perry Mason novels.

In addition to reading, Bruce enjoyed movies, music (yes, Ol’ Blue Eyes was a favorite), travel, green mint chocolate chip ice cream (believing it tasted mintier if it was green), OLLI classes, pickleball, his e-bike, the Huskers, researching family genealogy, and just being outdoors. He never lost his boyhood love for the family farm near Genoa, Nebraska.

Bruce is survived by his wife, Margaret, and children Marshall (Pia), Beth (Jared) Ray, and Ali (Shane) Winterbauer. His delight of the last three years has been his grandchildren Asher, Kinsey, and Tanner. Bruce is also survived by his siblings Lynette (Denis) Jensen, Brian, Kris (Steve) Rempe, Brad (Paula), and Brent (Deb); much loved nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who he considered to be part of his extended family.

A memorial service to honor Bruce’s life will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, December 30, 2024, at Roper and Sons South Lincoln Chapel, 3850 Hohensee Drive and all whose lives he touched are invited to celebrate his life.

During his high school years in Cozad, Bruce had the opportunity to play “Taps” at Ft. McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska, an experience he treasured. As a veteran, he will be laid to rest in that cemetery in a private family committal.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Bruce’s memory to Nebraska Public Media, 1800 North 33^rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68503.

Link to Service Recording:

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Services

December30

Memorial Service

10:30 am CST

Roper & Sons South Chapel

3950 Hohensee Drive (40th & Yankee Hill)
Lincoln, NE 68516

(402) 261-5907

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January 1, 2025

Dearest Margaret and Family, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved Bruce. I pray that you feel his presence in the same embrace that the God of comfort holds and you together during this time. Your All In Solutions family sends our love and support. I know the many members of your VA family–including me–hold you tenderly during this time as well.

– The Honorable and Brig Gen (USAF, Ret.) Allison A. Hickey

January 1, 2025

My name is Dave Anderson. After working in several parts of the US, I came to Lincoln in 1987 with my wife and my son, as the assistant manager for the SS office. A year or two afterwards, I traveled to GI to help celebrate that office’s 50th anniversary. That is where and when I first met Bruce about 35 years ago. I recognized him from another time and place, though I knew not where nor when. I can count on one hand the people that I have known in this life about whom I can say that. My wife Marge was the first. Have you ever taken an instant like or dislike to someone you’ve just met before they say or do anything to you? If so, you know what I mean. I liked Bruce immediately. Sometime in the early nineties, an operations supervisor position opened up in the Lincoln office. Bruce was selected to fill it. I was to be his supervisor. We quickly found out that we shared a number of interests, mainly cultural and historical. It is my impression that lovers of history are “old souls” meaning that we have been around the wheel of life enough times that we begin to manifest traits like kindness, compassion, and empathy. Bruce and I shared the middle name “Alan” and we each had a wife named Marge. I was impressed that he had a master’s degree in The Classics and that he said he could read hieroglyphics. (Of course, I had to take his word for that 🙂 We found much to talk about over lunch, which for Bruce was always a diet Coke and crackers. I used to rag him on that, for all the good it did. Hardheadedness was a strong suit with him. Speaking of suits, we each liked to play bridge, so we decided we would try being partners when OLLI offered classes. We had fun while it lasted but our bidding communication left much to be desired, just like our other communications. We often got confused in setting up dates. Our wives would point this out to us regularly. We deserved it I suppose, but I will blame Bruce for that since he’s not here to defend himself. I retired in 2000 and I know Bruce was saddened by that. But we kept in touch and the friendship blossomed further since the supervisor-subordinate relationship was no more. We shared books and CDs and visited museums and presentations of one kind or another. Once he retired our friendship grew even closer. I mentioned OLLI in the bridge context before. (For those of you who don’t know, “OLLI” stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute which is an organization dedicated to the proposition that curiosity never dies. OLLI affiliates with institutions of higher learning and is staffed by volunteers who originate and implement educational course on a wide variety of topics, mainly for seniors. Its a wonderful program.) Its been said that we do not like our friends for their strengths, as much as their idiosyncrasies. That’s true in my case. With Bruce, I would say that one of his peculiarities was that he never liked to answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no”. His answers were always essays. I think it was the professor in him that required a discourse rather than a succinct reply. Years ago, I was asked to speak to an OLLI group about Social Security financing. The allotted time was 90 minutes and I felt that I would have some difficulty filling the slot. And since Bruce was part of the same course, I asked him if he would like to take 45 minutes or half the time. He readily agreed as I knew he would. So I prepared my presentation accordingly. My mistake was in letting Bruce go first. He spoke for an hour and 15 minutes, leaving me to just hit the highlights in my 15 minute presentation. His talkativeness carried over onto his recounts about Marshall, Beth and Ali, whom he would expound on often. He was very proud of the 3 of you. And then there’s Marge, his loving wife of 44 years. You were Bruce’s rock and confidant. I am sure you made him a better man. I know that you will miss him terribly. And he will miss you. But his discomfort is tempered by the fact that he is much happier where he is and is pain free. I look forward to meeting up with him again, who knows where or when.

– DAVID A ANDERSON

December 31, 2024

I came to Lincoln as the assistant manager for the SS office. That is where I first met Bruce about 35 years ago. I liked him immediately. Sometime in the early nineties, an operations supervisor position opened up in the Lincoln office. Bruce was selected to fill it. I was to be his supervisor. We quickly found out that we shared a number of interests, mainly cultural and historical. I was impressed that he had a master’s degree in The Classics and that he said he could read hieroglyphics. (Of course, I had to take his word for that 🙂 We found much to talk about over lunch, which for Bruce was always a diet Coke and crackers. I used to rag him on that, for all the good it did. Hardheadedness was one of his idiosyncrasies. I retired in 2000 and I know Bruce was saddened by that. But we kept in touch and the friendship blossomed further since the supervisor-subordinate relationship was no more. We shared books and CDs and visited museums and presentations of one kind or another. Once he retired our friendship grew even closer. We liked to take OLLI classes together. “OLLI” stands for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute which is an organization dedicated to the proposition that curiosity never dies. It is mainly for seniors. Its been said that we do not like our friends for their strengths, as much as their idiosyncrasies. With Bruce, I would say that one of his peculiarities was that he never liked to answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no”. His answers were always essays. I think it was the professor in him that required a discourse rather than a succinct reply. Years ago, I was asked to speak to an OLLI group about Social Security financing. The alloted time was 90 minutes and I felt that I would have some difficulty filling the slot. And since Bruce was part of the same course, I asked him if he would like to take 45 minutes or half the time. He readily agreed as I knew he would. So I prepared my presentation accordingly. My mistake was in letting Bruce go first. He spoke for an hour and 15 minutes, leaving me to just hit the highlights in my “15 minute” presentation. His talkativeness carried over on to his recounts about Marshall, Beth and Ali, whom he would expound on often. He was very proud of the 3 of you. And then there’s Marge, his loving wife of 44 years. You were Bruce’s rock and confidant. I am sure you made him a better man. I know that will miss him terribly, as will I. And he will miss you. But his longing is tempered by the fact that he is much happier where he is, and he is pain free. I look forward to meeting up with him again, who knows where or when.

– DAVID A ANDERSON

December 31, 2024

I was saddened to read of Bruce’s passing and am so sorry for your loss. I just wish I had known more of the things about him that were in his obituary when I could have still talked with him about them. I knew him because I worked for Senator Chuck Hagel and before that for Congressman Doug Bereuter. I could always count on him (and his cohort Dave Anderson) to explain and/or resolve the Social Security problems our constituents had. He and Dave were a joy to work with. Discovering that he was also taking OLLI classes was a pleasant surprise. We had interesting conversations before and after classes. I am sorry that he had to deal with such difficult health problems during his retirement years. He was a fine man.

– Dorothy C. Anderson

December 29, 2024

Bruce was a long-time friend. Some words standing for memories: Halloween, water on roofs and cherry bombs. Trumpets Husker games Canasta… The nasty version Hearts… The nasty version NU vs Army at WestPoint Gettysburg Revolutionary and Civil War battlefields Bridge Talks of “things” over gin and tonics, bloodymarys or manhattans Dinghy in the Everglades and sinking in the polluted Potomac Flying Fireworks on the 4th from US Capitol steps Roommates with Bruce working in the Pentagon with me on Capitol Hill And so much more. Until we meet again…

– Dave Bernard-Stevens

December 28, 2024

I met Bruce when I became friends with his sister, Lynette, when we were in 8th grade. Being an only child, I loved hanging out at the busier Bunde home and was happy to grow up as an honorary part of the Bunde clan. Ray Bunde gave me my first job at 16 at the Jack and Jill grocery he managed, where Bruce and Lynette also worked then-though Bruce seemed ages older at the time! Our work group became friends and we had many good times together. While life took us different directions, I always saw Lynette when I visited my dad in Lincoln, and occasionally got to see Bruce too after he and Marge returned to Nebraska. I last saw Bruce and Marge when they attended my dad’s funeral a few years ago, which I very much appreciated- though we never think it’s going to be the last time… I was honored to know Bruce as a man of integrity, a lover of family, and person with a special sense of humor! Sending our condolences to and prayers for all the Bunde family, especially Marge and their kids.

– Denise Peschel and Dick Frank

December 28, 2024

I met Bruce in high school in Cozad where he was a popular senior and a good student. He played trumpet in band and sang in chorus, acapella choir and swing choir. For a brief time, he was my high school sweetheart and got to know our whole family. Our paths diverged after high school, but we remained close friends as did he and my brother Dave along with Mom and Dad. Bruce always visited when he was home from college at the University of Nebraska and whenever he could while serving in the Army. Dave spent a couple of years in Washington, DC, working as a senate aide while Bruce worked at the Pentagon. They shared an apartment and a number of adventures, including paddling Bruce’s beloved inflatable dingy in the Potomac River until they discovered a leak and had to row frantically to make it to shore before being swamped. They also drove to Miami for the Nebraska football game against LSU in the Orange Bowl, where Nebraska became the national champion for the first time. Over the years, Bruce and my mother Dorothy shared endless conversations about philosophy, life and history at a favorite place. When Mom married Clifford Thompson, Bruce joined all of us for the happy occasion and became a friend of the Thompsons. When Marge accepted Bruce’s proposal for marriage she became part of the Bunde family and part of the Stevens-Thompson family to our delight. Over the years, Bruce and Marge’s family grew also, and Beth, Marshall and Ali were born and beloved by Mom. As Mom grew older and frailer Bruce and Marge were her guardian angels, running errands, checking in, and including her in their lives for birthdays and holidays. When Mom passed away in 2023, Bruce and Marge were among the first to come and be together with my sister Danna and me to celebrate Mom’s long life as only loving family members can. Bruce’s long friendship with our family and his kindness, intellect, integrity, wit and grace will always be cherished as blessings.

– Cristy (Stevens Johnsrud, Danna Stevens

December 27, 2024

Margaret and Family, I am so sorry to hear about Bruce’s passing. You are in my thoughts and prayers. With deepest sympathy. I was always willing to bring back some Buffalo Trace from Louisville, KY for him.