Bruce E. Asper Sr.

Bruce Eric Asper, Sr., 86, of Newport Beach, CA passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in San Mateo, CA on August 18, 2022. For a man whose accomplishments were as varied and diverse as they were great, he came from modest beginnings in Beaver Falls, PA. One of the last children in America educated in a one-room schoolhouse, he excelled in school from the beginning. Before high school started for Bruce, the Aspers packed up the family and moved to Pomona, CA, where Bruce's dad, Alf Asper, took a job as principal at Emerson Junior High. He thrived in California and made lifelong friends like Dennis Fredrickson and the late Wayne Moses, all while meeting and becoming friends with his future wife, the late Sandra Asper. Bruce funded his college education from Mt. Sac Junior College to UCLA as a butcher at Gil's Meats in Pomona and after graduation enlisted in the Navy, went to flight school, and became a Navy Fighter Pilot in peace time in the early 1960's, landing successfully dozens of times on aircraft carriers. He retired from the Navy, returned to Pomona and started Graduate School on the G.I. Bill, earning a Master's in History from Claremont Men's College (now Claremont McKenna.) He worked towards his Doctorate in history at UC Riverside while teaching history there until marriage to Sandab and the birth of Bruce Jr forced a move to Newport Beach, CA and the start of a forty-year career in sales with Xerox and Eastman Kodak.

Even though he fought the move and the expense ($38,000) of their first home on L Street on the Peninsula Point, Bruce thrived in Newport Beach. Almost immediately upon arrival, Bruce and Sandy joined the Peninsula Point Racquet Club and formed friendships that defined their place in Newport: Don and Andrea Jones. Char and Al Smith. Dr Bob and Dorothy Beauchamp. Ralph and Bonnie Bernard and so many more. In addition to weekends at L Street beach, their social life revolved around alley parties behind Miramar and twice annual trips to Shadow Mountain Resort in Palm Desert with the club. Always quietly undefinable, Bruce was a modest man happily living surrounded by wealth. He was an aggressive salesman who was more trusted advisor than shark, using his deep roots in education to ask rather than tell. He was a ferocious tennis partner who made up for his lack of skill and grace by being the best partner anyone has had, so generous and happy on the court that opponents hated beating him. In Newport, he also joined Christ Church by the Sea and served in church leadership for fifty years. Bruce had his hand in establishing the pre-school there, allowing Shir Ha-A'malot Temple to use the church on Saturdays as they built out their own temple and bringing twelve-step meetings to the church in the evening. All this was done quietly, and as his children have recounted it, most people he knew had no idea.
After nearly five decades in sales, and training hundreds of men and women to be better both in business and as people. ("Two ears and one mouth means listen twice as much as you talk"), Bruce retired a few years after his beloved Sandy and thrived once again. His routine in retirement was as dictated as it was when he was working. Bruce would walk the family dog (first the late Buster, then Harley) at 6:30 am sharp and then proceed to run his scheduled day. It was so scheduled that when his children would call he would grow exasperated if they didn't remember his schedule, "You know I go to 17th street on Wednesdays, Lara." It is a cliché to say a man never met a stranger who didn't become a friend, but Bruce never did. Voraciously curious, he would find out five facts about someone in line at Ralph's then delight in telling his children about the encounter. "Elaine comes from Texas, but she hates guns, can you believe that?" By retirement, Sandy had grown tired of his stranger reports, so he would be forced to tell the kids. His laugh was as huge as his smile upon meeting someone new, he woke up each day happy and went to bed the same. Bruce's intellect was as sharp as the butcher knives from Gil's Meats, but he was quiet about it, refusing to bludgeon you with his intelligence, modestly a genius making everyone else feel smart. He was a giant of a man masquerading as ordinary.

Bruce was preceded in death by his wife of sixty years, Sandra Dorothy. He is survived by his son Bruce Asper, Jr., his daughters Lara (Asper) Sellers (Scott) and Gabriela (Reyes) Asper (Brian), grandchildren Kristin Sellers, Justin Sellers, Samantha Sellers, Mary Deck, Patrick Deck and Peter Deck. He is also survived by thousands of strangers he met along the way, all of them thinking of him as a friend. A service is scheduled for Saturday, September 17th at 2 PM at Christ Church by the Sea on the Balboa Peninsula with a Celebration of Life following it at 4 PM at Peninsula Point Racquet Club. Those interested should email bruceasperjr@gmail.com for details.