Bruce William Dransfeldt, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, son, and friend, passed away peacefully on June 25, 2024, at home, in Tigard, Oregon, surrounded by loved ones. He was 81 at the time of his passing.
Bruce was born on August 14, 1942, in Southgate, California to Jess and L. Beth Dransfeldt. They moved to Salem, Oregon in 1946 where his brother, Stephen Dransfeldt, was born. He attended Oregon City High School and graduated in 1960. He attended and graduated from University of Oregon in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science and completed his Post Baccalaureate in Accounting from Portland State University in 1978.
Bruce lived a full life with many interests including volunteering, man of faith, spending time with his family, career as an accountant, Rotarian, triathlete, and DIY builder finding projects to do around his home and his children's homes.
Bruce was married three times. He married his first wife Pat in 1963; they were married for 16 years. Bruce met Nancy in 1980 and they were together for 17 years. Nancy had two sons, Bill and Chuck, that Bruce was a stepfather to. Bruce met Jean, his current wife, in 1979 working at Coopers and Lybrand. Bruce and Jean were married to their previous spouses at the time and simply colleagues and friends. He reconnected with Jean again in 1999 by chance at a tax seminar. They were both divorced, and started dating with it getting serious very quickly. They were married at First Baptist Church of Portland on November 27, 1999. Bruce became a stepfather again to Jean's children Sarah and Chris.
Bruce was a loving father and grandfather staying involved in his children and grandchildren's lives traveling back and forth between Oregon for the summers and Arizona for the winters, attending most sports activities that the grandchildren were involved in (soccer, track, karate, wrestling, etc.).
With his B.S. degree in physics, Bruce's career began in the semiconductor field in California. After several years there, he returned to Portland where he worked for his father's company as a bookkeeper. He took some accounting courses, passed the CPA exam and joined Coopers and Lybrand in 1978 working there for seven years. After leaving Coopers and Lybrand in 1985, he started his own practice which he ran for 20 years which led him to join the Central East Portland Rotary in 1990. He was president of that chapter in 1996 and continued to maintain active leadership roles with Rotary, later transferring to the Chandler Horizon Rotary in Arizona. Bruce retired in 1998 and spent his years in retirement working on Rotary projects, volunteering with Jean at AARP Tax-Aide, and staying involved in their church community in both Arizona and Oregon until he passed.
Bruce took up running in the 1980's starting with a 10k run that led to many marathons (30+), including the Portland Marathon and three Boston Marathons in 1990, 1996 and 2008. Through his running years he decided to train for a triathlon. After first learning to swim, he completed his
first Iron Man in 1999 at Lake Placid, New York. He completed his second Iron Man with Jean at Panama City Beach, Florida in 2002. He was an avid cyclist and did several cross country cycling trips with Jean, beginning with Cycle Oregon. Bruce also enjoyed golf and played off and on throughout the years. He joined the Columbia Edgewater Country Club while married to Pat and played two to three times a week getting his handicap down to nine.
Bruce was a big adventurer. His first big adventure was with his first wife Pat, when he got the "sailing bug" to travel around the world. He bought a boat, practiced and traveled as far as San Francisco, California where they stayed for almost a year before selling the boat and moving back to Portland, Oregon. His next adventure was with his second wife, Nancy and her sons; they did a round the country RV tour seeing Disneyland and Disneyworld in one summer. His next adventure was with Jean doing several cycling trips across the country, the longest of which started in Phoenix, Arizona, lasted three months and ended in Washington, D.C.
Over the years Bruce liked to stay busy with handyman projects big and small ranging from small fix-it jobs to building a house on Anderson Island, Washington. In recent years he was always finding things to do, with painting his homes (moved nine times in 25 years with Jean) to his recent project of renovating the kitchen in their Arizona home this past May.
Bruce was preceded in death by his father, Jess Dransfeldt, mother L. Beth Dransfeldt, and brother, Stephen Dransfeldt. Bruce is survived by his wife of 25 years Jean Dransfeldt, children Sarah (Michael) Riffell and Christopher (Catherine) Cambridge, grandchildren Ava Riffell, Corbin Riffell, Andrew Cambridge, and Alexandra Cambridge.
Bruce will be remembered for his sense of humor, great smile, best scrambled eggs, love of adventure, and full commitment to his family and God.
A memorial service will be held on July 20, 2024 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm at First Baptist Church of Portland, 909 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97205.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to any of the following organizations:
First Baptist Church of Portland Foundation: https://www.fbc-portland.org/giving-online/
Hope Covenant Church Foundation: https://www.hopecovenant.org/give
Rotary: https://my.rotary.org/en/donate
Central East Portland Rotary Foundation: https://ceprotary.org/
Chandler Horizon Rotary Foundation: https://www.chandlerhorizonrotary.org/
Tigard Breakfast Rotary Foundation: https://www.tigardbreakfastrotary.club/
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