Robert William Bruce, age 74, passed away August 30, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Margaret (Marnie) Bruce; step-daughter, Marsha MacKinnon McKinley (Tim), and step-granddaughter, Katherine McKinley; brother, Fred Bruce (deceased) (Magdaleen) and their children, David Bruce (Kristine), Renger Bruce, Hannah Bruce (Mark) and Petra Gavrilovic-Bruce (Ljuba); sister-in-law, Pat Jackson (Edward) and their children, Leaytte Speers (Jeff) and Jason Jackson; brother-in-law, Ron Codlin (Jackie, deceased) and their children, Kelley Bryant (Greg), Lorriane Mulliss (Brent), Jennifer Longstreet (Jay), Rhonda Wiebe (Brian), Rebecca Codlin, and many great nieces and nephews. Robert was preceded in death by his mother, Henreitte Bruce; his father, Herman Bruce; his brother, Fred Bruce and his sister-in-law, Jackie Codlin.

Born 1950 in the Netherlands, Robert was the elder son of Herman and Henriette Bruce, to whom he was greatly indebted for an outstanding upbringing and education, culminating in a career in engineering, science, research and development. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in the Netherlands, a Master of Science degree in Tribology at the University of Leeds 1974 and a Doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Twente 1975, he emigrated to Canada in 1977. He worked as a customer liaison engineer at Husky Injection Molding Systems in Bolton Ontario.

Robert met his wife at Husky Injection Molding system and married Margaret (Marnie) MacKinnon in 1980 and immigrated to the United States to work as a research engineer at the Alcoa Technical Center near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He became a member of the Alcoa Roll Technology Committee and installed a high-speed research rolling mill at the Alcoa Technical Center.

In 1990 he became a research engineer at General Electric Aviation in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he developed thermal barrier coatings, materials, and processes for turbine engines. He held over fifty patents with General Electric.

Robert was active in the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers as Editor of Tribology Transactions, Annual Meeting Program Chair and eventually as President 2008-2009. Robert also participated in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International E-34 Propulsion Lubricants Committee. After 25 years Robert retired from General Electric in 2014 and enjoyed traveling to many places: Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Turkey, and Jordan.

In lieu of flowers you can send donations to the International Myeloma Foundation for cancer (www.myeloma.org) or any cancer research of your choice.

Family extends a special thank you to Robert’s care teams: the oncology groups at the Thomas Center, the James Cancer center in Columbus and the Hospice of Cincinnati in Blue Ash.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Manor House, 7440 South Mason Rd., Mason, OH 45040 on Saturday, October 12 at 11:30 AM with a light lunch to follow.