The Port Arthur News
—
Dolores Fay Bruce, 83, of
Little Rock died January
11, 2012. A memorial serv-
ice will be held at 2:00
P.M., Friday, January
18th, in the Lucy Lockett
Festival Theatre at Wild-
wood Park for the Arts,
20919 Denny Road, Little
Rock.
She was preceded in
death by her parents, Ev-
erett F. and Sally F. Mont-
gomery of Port Arthur,
Texas, and she is survived
by her husband Dr. Tho-
mas A. Bruce; by two chil-
dren: Thomas Karr Mont-
gomery Bruce of Niles,
Michigan, and Dana Fee
Thomas of Little Rock; by
four grandchildren: Bruce
Allen Thomas, Annah
Wendy Thomas, Christo-
pher Andrew Thomas, and
Amy Irene Bruce; and by
her sister, Anita Higgin-
botham of Columbus,
Ohio.
She was born in Merry-
ville, Louisiana, but grew
up in Port Arthur, Texas
where she graduated from
Thomas Jefferson High
School. She attended La-
mar Junior College, North
Texas State University,
and was certified in medi-
cal technology at the Uni-
versity of Texas Medical
Branch in Galveston. For
two years she worked in
the clinical laboratories
there before moving to em-
ployment in the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma Hospital
and later to the Texas
Children’s Hospital clini-
cal lab in Houston. In
1955 she moved to Dallas
to work at Parkland Me-
morial Hospital and was
serving as research tech-
nologist in the Depart-
ment of Obstetrics, Uni-
versity of Texas South-
western Medical School,
when she met her future
husband who was a car-
diopulmonary fellow there.
After marriage in 1960 the
couple moved for a year to
London, England, where
she served as a research
technician at the Central
Middlesex Hospital while
Dr. Bruce trained as a car-
diac research fellow at the
Royal Postgraduate Medi-
cal School. On return to
America they lived for
seven years in Detroit
where her husband was on
the faculty of Wayne State
University. Their two chil-
dren were born there, and
Mrs. Bruce worked in the
Detroit Blood Bank. In
1968 the family moved to
Oklahoma City where Dr.
Bruce became the Head of
Cardiology at the Univer-
sity of Oklahoma and Mrs.
Bruce because a licensed
real estate agent.
In 1974 she moved to
Little Rock when Dr.
Bruce became the dean of
the University of Arkan-
sas Medical School. Mrs.
Bruce became deeply in-
volved in the Faculty
Wives Cub, the Winfield
Methodist Chancel Choir,
and the Arkansas Opera
Theatre. She immersed
herself in support for the
public schools and was
president of the Hall High
School PTA. When in 1985
Dr. Bruce was appointed
the Program Director at
the W.K. Kellogg Founda-
tion in recognition of his
national leadership in ru-
ral health, the family
moved to Battle Creek,
Michigan. During their 10
years there, Mrs. Bruce
served on the Community
Hospital Auxiliary and on
the Battle Creek Sym-
phony Board where she
was president of the Sym-
phony Guild.
After returning to Little
Rock in 2005, Ms. Bruce
served for three years on
the Little Rock Arts and
Culture Commission and
has been continuously on
the Board of Directors of
Wildwood Parks for the
Arts where the ‘Dodi Tea
House’ is named in her
honor. She is a member of
the St. James United
Methodist Church.
Over the past few years
she has received a number
of honors and awards: the
Special Appreciation
Award and the Janet
Pearcy Ambassador
Award from Wildwood
Park, the Double Helix
Award from UAMS, the
Spirit of Central High
Award from Little Rock
Central High School Mu-
seum, the Giving Tree So-
ciety award of the Arkan-
sas Community Founda-
tion, Care Link’s David
Pryor Award for Commu-
nity Service, and the
President’s Award as Phi-
lanthropist of the Year by
the Arkansas Chapter of
the American Society of
Professional Fundraisers.
In lieu of flowers, memo-
rials may be made to the
Dolores Bruce Memorial
Fund at the Arkansas
Community Foundation,
1400 W. Markham St.,
Little Rock 72201.
Arrangements made by
Roller Chenal Funeral
Home, 13801 Chenal
Parkway, Little Rock, AR
72211. (501) 224-8300
Online guestbook:
www.rollerfuneralhomes.
com/chenal
