R. Bruce Brumbaugh ’53

Bruce was born in Altoona, Pa., and came to Princeton from Phillips Andover Academy. He joined Key and Seal and majored in politics, writing his thesis on “History of the Grundy Movement,” a civil rights movement centered in Grundy County, Pa. He was captain of the University pingpong team and was undefeated in the National Intercollegiate Ping-Pong Tournament his freshman year.

Bruce enlisted in the Army after graduation and was stationed in Okinawa, where he won the 8th Army/Far East table tennis singles and doubles championships. He continued to be interested in the sport and won the Altoona senior men’s table tennis championship in 1978 and 1979, the last years it was held.

After his Army tour, he graduated from Dickinson School of Law and was admitted to the practice of law by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Blair County Courts in 1960. As an attorney, he chose to be a sole practitioner, maintaining his office in downtown Altoona. Elected to the bench in 1979, he served a 10-year term as a judge of the Blair County Court of Common Pleas throughout the 1980s. Returning to private practice in 1990, he concentrated in areas of family law and estates until retiring in November of 2008.

Bruce died June 24, 2024. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Patricia; five children; seven grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.