Sioux Falls: Funeral services for Bruce MacDonald, 74, Sioux Falls and formerly of Aberdeen, will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at Faith United Methodist Church, Aberdeen. Pastor Jack Erickson officiating. Burial in Riverside Memorial Park, with military honors by Sidney L. Smith Post No. 24. Bruce died Monday, Jan. 21, at the Sanford Medical Center, Sioux Falls, after a courageous two-year battle with cancer.
Visitation will be from 1 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 25, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. at Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home, 1111 S. Main St.
Bruce MacDonald was born July 29, 1938, in Minneapolis, Minn., and was adopted by Grant and Mattie (Pabst) MacDonald. He graduated from Aberdeen Central High School. He held a master plumbers license and electrical license in the state of South Dakota.
On Dec. 31, 1960, he married Olivia Weber at Aberdeen. This is the area where they made their home, and he owned and operated his own plumbing and heating company for 25 years. In November 1980, he began working for the U.S. Postal Service, until he retired in 2004. In March 2012, they moved to Sioux Falls. Bruce was a member of the S.D. National Guard for nine years, having completed his training in Fort Leonardwood Missouri.
He was a member of the Sioux Falls chapter of the Harley Owners Group, Moose Lodge, Elks Lodge and the Experimental Airlcraft Association. He loved flying his own plane and they loved touring on their Harley's. He served eight years on the S.D. State Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Association Board, serving in all offices including president. He also was instrumental in helping to develop a licensing law for plumbing in the state; he served 10 years on the advisory of the Mitchell Vo-Tec school and two years on the advisory board of the Aberdeen Central High Vo-Tec School. Bruce was one of the first facilitators in the QWL/EI process, serving for over four years. He was elected to the S.D. Association of Rural Letter Carriers Board in 1987, serving all offices but secretary from 1987-98.
Grateful for having shared Bruce's life are his wife, Olivia MacDonald, Sioux Falls; children: Brenda (Dan) Geier, Chanhassen, Minn.; Lori (Merlyn) Brockhouse, Sioux Falls; and Ryan (Laurie) MacDonald, Olathe, Kas.; grandchildren: Brandon, Jerimiah, Lindsey, Stephen, Bailee and Brooklyn; mother, Beulah Barnes, Stockon, Calif.; in-laws: Eddie Weber, Dolores Kolbeck, Etta Tripp and David (Betty) Weber.
Bruce is preceded in death by his infant son, Mark MacDonald; parents, Grant and Mattie MacDonald; foster sister, Jean Bartel; in-laws: Viola (Joe) Schmidt, Barbara (John) Voller, Morrie Boelter, Leonard Tripp and Darlene Weber.
The family prefers memorials to St. Jude's Research Hospital.
spitzerfuneralhome.com