Bruce McGraw

1943 - 2025

Bruce Russell McGraw passed away peacefully on January 28, 2025, after a brief illness and a long struggle with Parkinson's. He was a true public servant who dedicated his entire professional career to public education and much of his spare time to volunteering. Bruce was born on May 20, 1943, in Somerville, NJ, to Bruce and Gertrude McGraw. He graduated from Bucknell University with a BA in Philosophy in 1965 and earned a Master's Degree in 1966 and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration in 1978, both at UNC- Chapel Hill. He began his 40 year

career in 1966 as a public school educator, notably volunteering to help desegregate an all-Black junior high school faculty in Charlotte, NC. Most recently, he was a team leader for the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team from 2005 - 2017, responding to many disasters from the Gulf Coast after Katrina to the Yukon River. As chairman of the Haitian Task Force of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, NJ, from 1990-2010, he led eight medical teams into Haiti, including during the disastrous earthquake in 2010. He volunteered for more than a decade as an EMT and was on numerous boards dedicated to community service until he and his wife Jean moved to the Homewood community in Frederick in 2018. He is survived by his wife, Jean, his sons, David (Rebecca Saldana) and Andrew McGraw (Tess Pitman McGraw), his grandchildren, Sydney (Aly Thatcher), Joshua, Makenzie, Selena, Eliseo, and Grayson, and his great-granddaughter, Wrenna. A Memorial Service will be held in The Event Center at Homewood of Frederick, 500 Pearson Circle, Frederick, MD 21702, on Saturday, March 15, at 2 PM. In lieu of flowers, you many send a donation to the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville Haiti Fund, 2688 Main Street (Route 206), Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. Bruce McGraw