Bruce Mcmahill Donnelley
Bruce Mcmahill Donnelley
Bruce
M. Donnelley, 76, died June 10, 2012. He
was born in Boise June 14, 1935, one of six children born to William James
(Don) Donnelley and Dorothy Houston Donnelley.
His father died when Bruce was young, and at an early age he had a paper
route and worked at a bike shop, where he bought his bike for payments of $1
per week. Later in life, Bruce purchased
the Harrison Boulevard home he had so admired during his paper route days.
He
graduated from Boise High School in 1953 and attended Boise Junior College and
Pasadena City College before joining the Army.
After 43 months of service, during which he was stationed in Germany, he
returned to Boise and BJC. In the fall
of 1958, he met Betty Lou Stonebraker Harrington and they were married June 27,
1959. Bruce attended the College of
Idaho in 1959-60 as he waited for Betty Lou to graduate.
After
graduation, they moved to San Jose, California, where Bruce graduated from San
Jose State in 1961 with a degree in business and finance. The couple then moved to San Francisco, where
Bruce worked as a CPA for Haskins & Sells. In 1968 they returned to Idaho,
where Bruce began his 30-year career with Blue Cross of Idaho. He retired in 1998.
Bruce’s
great passions were jazz, reading, travel, and running in the Boise
foothills. He completed marathons in San
Francisco in 1994 and Big Sur in 1995.
He enjoyed cooking, and loved to invite family and friends to
dinner. Over the years he welcomed
surrogate daughters into his home and offered much love to both Kimberly Oliver
Duvall and Tami Wardle Lopez.
Bruce
was preceded in death by his parents, his oldest brother Donald Houston
Donnelley, and his son Scott Edward Donnelley.
He is survived by his wife Betty Lou, daughter Julie Morgan, son Alexander,
and granddaughter Sarah Morton, all of Boise.
Other survivors include his sisters Anne Hayden and Jean Ensor, brothers
Robert and Will, his special cousin Margaret Christensen, and several nieces
and nephews.
A
memorial service will be held on Sunday, July 15, at 4:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s
Cathedral, 8
th
and State Street in Boise, followed by a celebration
wake. A private burial will be
held June 20 at Dry Creek Cemetery.
In lieu
of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Women’s &
Children’s Alliance, 720 W. Washington St., Boise, 83702; to the Mountain
States Tumor Institute, 100 E. Idaho, Boise, 83712; or to a charity of choice.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Bruce Mcmahill Donnelley, please visit our flower store.
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