Bruce Alan Brase

Bruce was born on July 31, 1955 in rural Bremer County, Iowa, the third of four sons to Alvin and Rosalie (Ruescher) Brase. He was raised on the family farm and would sometimes help his father with the family heating, plumbing and air-conditioning business. He graduated from Plainfield Community School in 1973 and then attended Hawkeye Institute of Technology [Hawkeye Community College] where he received a 2-year technical degree in Electronic Engineering Technology.

Bruce went to work for John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa in their Product Electronics Department in 1975. He met Debbie Brown there in the Summer of 1977, who inspired him to return to school in 1978. He graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Bruce and Debbie were married on January 1, 1983 at St. John’s Lutheran Church – Western Douglas in Plainfield, Iowa. They moved to Austin, Texas later that year, where Bruce embraced his new home by adopting the greeting of “howdy.” He worked at Texas Instruments for about a year before starting at IBM in the Server Group department, where he worked for 35 years until his retirement in 2019.

Bruce was a devoted father to his two children, Michael and Jenny. Although Bruce and Debbie divorced in 1997, they continued an amicable relationship to co-parent their kids. Bruce instilled independence and fostered Michael and Jenny’s interests without his own self-interest. He was a great cheerleader in whatever they set out to do – whether it was the chaperone for space camp, attending middle school orchestra concerts, tracking Jenny during her marathons, or moving homes down the street or across the country – he showed up in support. Bruce was a grandfather to five grandsons, each of whom he delighted in and marveled at. He was also, without contest, the favorite company of his grand dogs. He will be missed by his children and grandchildren dearly.

Bruce was a lifelong hobbyist and tinkerer that could reliably research anything that piqued his interest. In his home, you could find panorama photos he took, furniture he made, bicycles he built, RC cars and planes, hiking and camping gear, geocaching tubes, a weather station, copious computer parts, an enterprise computer network, an electronics workbench, and over 150 IoT devices used to measure and automate many aspects of his home. As a young adult, Bruce enjoyed sailing, skiing, and riding motorcycles. He was an excellent “bike therapist” and he could fix just about anything around the house. Some of his recent projects included installing his own wood flooring and designing a solar battery backup system.

Bruce was an avid traveler and often incorporated cycling, hiking, camping, photography, and history into his trips. He was a reliable driver and navigator during road trips where he could comfortably cover 12 hours of driving a day. Notable recent trips include Saguaro and Joshua Tree National Parks, the Michigan upper peninsula, touring Civil War battlegrounds across the southeast, and many trips to the Big Bend region. Bruce and daughter Jenny traveled internationally to the south of Spain; the Patagonia region of Chile and Argentina where they visited the Straight of Magellan, Torres del Paine National Park, and El Chaltén; and Peru and Bolivia where they visited the Uyuni Salt Flats and backpacked the 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Bruce was passionate about road and gravel cycling, riding at least 10,000 miles every year since 2011 and at least 230,000 miles over his lifetime, of which he kept extensive records. He rode with a local Austin cycling group called Bat City Cycling for many years. He garnered a reputation for creating cycling routes for his friends, including an annual Christmas light scenic ride that became a tradition. Some of his most well-attended cycling events include the Hotter’N Hell Hundred ride in Wichita Falls, Texas; the Gateway to Texas Get-A-Way Tour in Clarksville, Texas; the Outlaw Trail 100 ride in Round Rock, Texas; and the Davis Mountains Fitness Camp in Fort Davis, Texas. Bruce traveled to Alaska twice to ride with Alaska Bike cycling tours, and he frequently traveled to Arizona, Iowa, and Colorado to visit family where he would bring along his bike. In Colorado, he completed the Leadville 100 and Triple Bypass cycling races and twice rode his bike to the top of Mount Blue Sky at 14,130 feet in elevation. In Iowa, Bruce had many times participated in or provided support for friends in RAGBRAI (the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa). Bruce was remarkable for his cycling fitness which continued to improve in his retirement years.

Bruce is survived by his son Michael (Candice) Brase and grandsons Roland, Edwin, and Callum of Longmont, Colorado; by his daughter Jennifer (Andrew) Leonard and grandsons Walker and Emerson of Austin, Texas; by his brother Ross (Peggy) Brase of Waverly, Iowa; by his sister-in-law Deb Brase of Fairbank, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews.

Bruce is preceded in death by his parents and his two brothers, Mark Brase of Clive, Iowa, and Dean Brase of Fairbank, Iowa.

A come and go memorial gathering will be held from 11:00AM-2:00PM on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at Stiles Switch BBQ (6610 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, Texas, 78752). If you plan on attending, kindly RSVP to Jenny Leonard at (512) 627-6219 so we can provide enough food for all.

A memorial bike ride will take place in honor of Bruce the day before on Friday, July 31, 2026. Please RSVP to Jenny Leonard at (512) 627-6219 for ride details.