Bruce B. Wilson ’58

Bruce died April 13, 2022, in Wayne, Pa. He was 86.

He came to Princeton from St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Mass., and Kenyon College, from which he transferred in 1955 as a sophomore.

At Princeton Bruce was a member of Charter Club and active in the Republican Club. His major was in the Woodrow Wilson School, and he roomed with Mac Miller. In December 1958, Bruce married Dede MacFarland.

After Princeton he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. He joined Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads in Philadelphia as a litigator and then became chief deputy assistant attorney general with the antitrust division of the Justice Department in Washington. Then he became the chief legal officer for Conrail, from which he retired in 1997.

During his lengthy law career, he presented oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, testified several times in front of Congress, and orchestrated the public offering of Conrail. After retirement, he offered pro bono legal services in many different capacities and was recently honored as a 60-year member of the Philadelphia Bar Association. 

Dede and Bruce had four children and 11 grandchildren, all living nearby in Radnor, Pa. After Dede died in 2013, Bruce married Mary Gardner Bale in 2015. 

He is survived by Mary, his children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and three stepchildren. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them all.