Dr. Garnett J. Bruce Jr.

BRUCE, Dr. J. Garnett Jr. 96, of Orange, died Saturday, July 3, 2010, at The Village at Gordon House in Gordonsville. He was born in Culpeper County, May 25, 1914, graduated from Culpeper High School in 1932, attended Hampden-Sydney College in a premedical program and graduated from the University of Virginia Medical School in 1940. During World War II, he was a physician with TVA during construction of Fontana Dam in western North Carolina. In 1942 he married Janet "Jan" Floyd. Following the war, he worked in Chattanooga, Tenn. delivering hundreds of babies and performing numerous surgeries in a grueling 90 hour workweek for a year and a half. He moved to Gordonsville in November of 1947 with his young wife and two children. Dr. Bruce was a physician serving the Orange County community for over 30 years until his retirement in 1979. He was instrumental in building the Orange-Gordonsville Community Hospital during the 1950s with his partner Hulbert McCoy, the same facility now being the Gordon House. He had a great sense of humor, loved playing golf and the devil's advocate, freely recited various ditties and poems, and was always welcoming. He was instrumental in the re-opening of the Gordonsville Presbyterian Church during the 1950s, serving as both deacon and elder and also serving on the Town Council of Gordonsville for 10 years. He was preceded in death by his wife of 57 years, Janet Floyd Bruce; parents, James Garnett and Hallie Wilkins Bruce; sister, Mary Reed Bruce; and brother, William Mercer Bruce. He is survived by his brother, Lucien W. Bruce; son, James G. Bruce III (Marguerite); and daughter, Ann Bruce DiStefano; four grandchildren, Tracy B. Clark (Chris), Heather B. Prillaman (Prescott), Joshua DiStefano (Carrie) and Noah DiStefano; and eight great-grandchildren, Chelsea, Madelyn, Claudia, Jack, Olivia, Henry, Carter and Clara. He is also survived by his good friend, Dot Hill Browning, steadfast and loving. The family will receive friends 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, July 11, 2010 at Preddy Funeral Home, 301 N. Main Street in Gordonsville. A funeral service will be held at the Gordonsville Presbyterian Church at 11 a.m. Monday, July 12, 2010, interment to follow at Maplewood Cemetery, Gordonsville, Va. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Village at Gordon House, 501 N. Main St., Gordonsville, Va. 22942 or to the Gordonsville Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 574, Gordonsville, Va. 22942.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.