Bruce T. MacDonald

1943 - 2022

NEW LONDON - Bruce T. MacDonald, an optimistic and adventurous man who was as dedicated to his community as he was to his family, died Wednesday at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital. He was 78.

He was a long-time news reporter for both radio stations and newspapers before switching careers to be a public and media relations practitioner for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. He was dedicated to bettering the community and was especially interested in causes that improved the lives of those who were most disadvantaged.

He was devoted to his daughter, Cara Brennan of Middletown, and was thrilled to have become a father relatively late in life. He also was a doting husband to his wife of nearly 36 years, Gail Braccidiferro, who he met when the two were reporters at The Day paper. They were married on July 11, 1986 in Stowe, Vermont. During the final two years of his life, as he battled multiple myeloma and the many side effects of cancer treatments, he never failed to thank his wife each evening for supporting him through the ordeal.

He was known for his sunny personality, his corny jokes, his eagerness to tackle new adventures, his great intellect, his love of reading, travel and all things aviation, his Woody Woodpecker impression, and for the many causes he championed throughout his life. He especially loved his and Gail’s getaway cottage on Daniels Pond in Glover, Vermont and was fortunate to have been able to make one more journey there for a week’s stay early in May.

Bruce was born in Westerly, Rhode Island to parents Lemuel and Margaret MacDonald, who predeceased him. He attended Catholic grade school, then Westerly public schools, but left high school just shy of graduation when his desire for adventure pulled him away from small town life. He instead completed his high school studies after enlisting in the U.S. Army. He served overseas in both Vicenza, Italy and Uijeongbu, South Korea, then spent months traveling through Europe after completing his military service. He later traveled extensively with his wife and daughter to Europe and throughout the U.S. and Canada.

After serving in the Army, he returned home to Westerly and earned an Associate’s degree from Johnson & Wales College in Providence. He then found a career as a newsman suited him well as he was an easy conversationalist who respected people from all walks of life and socio-economic strata, accepting them as he found them. His news stories often aimed to enlighten the public about troubling conditions for the powerless, such as the poor of Haiti, patients and former patients of Norwich State Hospital, children in the foster care system and those struggling with alcohol or drug addictions. He worked at radio stations WERI in Westerly, WICH in Norwich and WDRC in Hartford and then newspapers The Norwich Bulletin, Groton News, The Day and USA Today.

Bruce also worked in public and media relations. He worked on the World Wise Schools project for the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. when he and his family lived in Arlington, Virginia in the early 1990s. When they moved back to Connecticut, he went to work for the Mashantucket Pequots, serving as editor of the Pequot Times, then later in media relations for the tribe. 

He became active in community service at a young age, volunteering for the ambulance corps and Civil Air Patrol, and running for local offices in his hometown. Through the years, he also served on numerous community boards. He was a long-time president of the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center and also served on the boards of the Southeastern Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, the Haitian Health Foundation and Haitian Ministries of the Norwich Diocese. He was a former moderator of the Pawcatuck Fire District.

He was a dedicated supporter of the Democratic Party, serving on the town committee in Stonington while a Pawcatuck resident, and then on the New London Democratic Town Committee after moving to the city in 2017. He also worked as press aide to Christopher J. Dodd during Dodd’s first successful campaign to become Connecticut’s second district congressman in 1974.

Bruce loved his adopted home city of New London and enjoyed serving it in many ways. He volunteered at the Homeless Hospitality Center, was a board member of the Thames River Heritage Park Foundation and represented the city on the Eastern Connecticut Tourism Board. For numerous years, he helped oversee and organize the Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival and, after stepping down from a festival leadership position, continued to serve on that board.

He was especially dedicated to the New London Rotary, finding a like-minded community of dedicated public servants there. He joined Rotary members in volunteering at the Community Meal Center each month, enjoyed securing weekly speakers for the group and was active in numerous Rotary projects such as regularly re-stocking the group’s Little Free Libraries. He was president-elect of the organization.

In June 2020, he began suffering from severe back pain and in September of that year was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Although he was plagued with sometimes debilitating pain in the last two years of his life, along with many unpleasant side effects of the cancer treatments, he never lost his optimism, his desire to serve his community, nor his sense of humor. He often joked that the cancer granted him two benefits: a medical marijuana license and a handicapped parking pass.

Besides his daughter and his wife, Bruce is survived by his son-in-law Jim Brennan; his brother, John, of Westerly; his sisters-in-law Diane (David) Evans of Peacham, Vermont; Victoria (Richard) Littell of Port St. Lucie, Florida and Nancy MacDonald of Charlestown, Rhode Island and his nieces Amber MacDonald of Boston, Emily MacDonald of Washington, D.C., Shannon Jordan of Hanover, Massachusetts and Brianna MacDonald of Dorchester, Massachusetts. He was predeceased by a brother, Thomas, of Charlestown, Rhode Island.

Byles Memorial Home, New London is assisting the family. There are no calling hours. A graveside service for family and close friends will be in Cedar Grove Cemetery. A Celebration of his Life, to which all of Bruce’s many family, friends and colleagues are invited, will be held 4:00 PM Wednesday, June 29  at the Rotary Pavilion, Ocean Beach Park, New London.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Haitian Health Foundation, 97 Sherman St., Norwich, CT 06360 or the New London Rotary Foundation, P.O. Box 654, New London, CT 06320. Please visit www.byles.com to sign the guestbook and share a memory.