Alliston, ON - -Â Bruce Simpson passes away
Bruce Simpson on right talking to his good friend Gordie Wise
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Some of Bruce's friends are probably already aware of this however I did not find out until today. Very sad news indeed. Bruce was a long time friend who was at just about every ISC World Tournament that I attended up until 2014 at least and many many local tournaments, especially in Ontario. Bruce passed 16 July 2016. RIP my friend. AD
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BRUCE SIMPSON
Born on December 2, 1936 in Hamilton, Bruce died peacefully on Thursday July 14, 2016 at Matthews House Hospice in Alliston. Survived by his loving wife, Jaris, and his brothers, Glen (Susan) and Neil (Mary Lou). Bruce taught elementary school for close to 35 years, ending his teaching days in Kleinburg. But his great passion was car rallying. Bruce was Ontario rally champion seven years in a row and was Canadian rally champion in 1966. Bruce was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame in 2006. Bruce was a Blue Jays fan but, more than that, he loved fastpitch softball and attended the international championship in various cities in Canada and the United States for many years. Bruce and Jaris retired to Alliston, spent many winters In Florida and travelled to places around the world. Bruce wished that no memorial service be held but that his ashes be scattered by family. If you wish, a donation in memory of Bruce may be made to Matthews House Hospice, P.O. Box 10060, Alliston, ON L9R 0B7 (www.matthewshousehospice.ca) or to the charity of your choice.
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A tribute to Bruce from Al Doran:
I met Bruce Simpson in Summerside PEI at the 1994 ISC World Tournament, my first. We were destined to run into each other many times over the following years.
By 1995 I started to run into Bruce at just about every fastball tournament I was able to attend. We had a good laugh one day when we discovered that we lived a short distance apart near Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill, ON. I lived on Penwick and Bruce lived a short walk away on Baif. He was on the board of directors of one of the condo corporations there.
We quickly discovered that we had much more in common than just fastball. Bruce grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and I grew up in Windsor, not far away, down the Valley. Bruce’s dad at one point was the manager of the Capitol Theatre in Halifax, one of the city’s most memorable and historic places. Bruce had many stories about seeing all the great moves for free at the Capitol.
On one occasion, Bruce really saved my bacon. I was attending the annual fastball in Orillia, ON, the World Series of Fastball, which started in 1997 and ended in 2007. Like Perth, and Monkton, it reigns as one of the best annual tournaments ever. Â In any case, one year, I showed up at the tournament ready to do my thing and quickly realized that I had not thrown the power cord to my lap top into my computer bag! One of the first people I ran into at the park was Bruce Simpson and told him my sad tale of woe, worrying that I would have to drive home to Richmond Hill to fetch it. Bruce to the rescue. We paid a visit to his travel trailer out in the parking lot and low and behold, Bruce had just purchased a new lap top, same model as mine. I borrowed his cord for the weekend. And he did not even rub it in that much.
One of the things I miss the most about attending the ISC World Tournament and some of the big weekend fastball tournaments, is that I do not get to see and talk to the characters of the game, especially the ones who make a major impression, like Bruce Simpson. Bruce was a teacher by profession and I envy the young people who had the pleasure to learn from him. He knew a lot about just about everything and he could spin a yarn like no one you ever met. I used to sit in the stands in total fascination and listen to Bruce talk for hours to his good friend and mine, Gordie Wise. Absolutely astounding how they could carry on a dialogue for hours still while watching some great fastball games.
I understand that Bruce and his wife would stop at Gordie’s home in the USA on his way to Florida in the fall and on the way home to Ontario in the spring and spend some great times together. I know Gordie will miss those times.
Bruce and his wife lived in Alliston in recent years and we often talked about life in his retirement community Briar Hill in Alliston. At one point we got interested in this as an option for a retirement home and we scheduled a visit to the village to look at a bungalow that was for sale. Imagine our surprise when we pulled up to the house we were going to look at, and Bruce was standing in the driveway! The real estate agent had told him of our scheduled visit and he wanted to welcome us to his community. He was also on the board of directors of this condo corporation as well.
Bruce will be missed by many friends far and wide for so many reasons.
RIP my friend.
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