Predeceased in 2001 by his wife Gayle (Petty) Pfaff, Bruce is survived by his three daughters, Sherry Lee Kenny (Charles), Susan Marcella Bacchi (Robert), and Christine May Flayter (Richard), and one son, David Bruce Pfaff. All four children live in New York State. Other survivors include his eight grandchildren and six great grandsons, his sister Lois Glutz and her husband Richard of Westbury, New York, his significant other, Sandra Anast of Fort Pierce, Florida, four nieces and many cousins. His brother David of Wisconsin passed away in 2017.
Bruce was born in Passaic, New Jersey, to Edward and Emily (Chapek) Pfaff on December 6, 1936. He attended Minneola High School in New York and in 1958 obtained a teaching certificate from State University of New York, Albany. He earned his master’s degree from Hofstra University and his doctorate was conferred by Columbia University. Bruce’s teaching experience ranged from swimming instruction for young children, to high school business subjects, to supervision of student teachers to doctoral dissertation advisement. In addition to teaching, he operated a one-man accounting business and bought and sold rental property which he refurbished.
After moving to Florida, Bruce, an accomplished bridge player who was certified to direct bridge games, began teaching bridge at the Vero Beach Duplicate Bridge Club as well as at various communities such as Orchard Island. He also gave private lessons and taught bridge on several cruise ships with the assistance of Sandra Anast. His national ranking was Gold Life Master. Over the years Bruce had over 500 bridge students. He prided himself on always making his partners feel comfortable.
Bruce was a devotee of music, particularly jazz and non-operatic classical. He played the piano since he was in seventh grade. Bruce was known to take a seat at the piano to entertain his grandchildren or provide the music for a sing-along at parties. When he was about 65 years old he began making CDs which he catalogued on a database. At the time of his death his CD collection exceeded 900 and the catalogue included 12,000 songs.
A service will be held on Wednesday, August 25, at 11 a.m. at Aycock Funeral Home, 6026 N US Highway 1, Fort Pierce, FL, 34946.
In lieu of flowers, friends wishing to make a donation in Bruce’s memory may do so by supporting WQCS radio at:
WQCS / 88.9 FM
Indian River State College
3209 Virginia Avenue
Fort Pierce, FL 34981-9988
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