S Bruce O'Donnell

Bruce was born on July 2, 1941, to Fred and Olive O’Donnell in Wewoka, Oklahoma. Bruce attended Broken Arrow High School. He was the drum major of the “Pride of Broken Arrow” high school marching band and graduated valedictorian in 1959. He went on to study psychology and sociology at Southern Methodist University. While at SMU, he played tuba in the Mustang Band, known as the “Best Dressed Band in the Land”. He then attended graduate school at the University of Denver, earning a PhD in higher education administration. During this time, he met and married Elizabeth (Liz) Gibbs.

Bruce worked in the field of higher education, including: Hartwick College, in Oneonta, New York; Rider College, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey; and Husson College in Bangor, Maine. After leaving higher education administration, he taught research methods and developmental psychology at several locations around the state of Maine. He also tutored in a dyslexia remediation program, working with middle school aged students.

He and Liz had two daughters, Susan Elizabeth and Kimberly Anne. Some of their fondest memories are of him playing “the rock” with them on the living room floor and meticulously planning out 5-week family camping road trips using a compass to measure out the mileage. The camping trips covered most of the US states and Canadian provinces and included camping during a hurricane and many, many, many rainstorms. Choir trips to England and Wales through St. John’s Episcopal Church, Bangor, ME were also family highlights. Bruce and Liz were married for 38 years and amicably divorced to follow different life paths.

In 2008, Bruce met Kevin Brown at GAYLA, a gay men’s retreat, at Ferry Beach, Maine. They were together for the past 18 years. Their years were spent travelling to visit family, including Thailand, Alaska, Florida, Colorado, and Texas, as well as other travels to many additional locations around the world. Kevin always appreciated Bruce’s outgoing nature which led to numerous lasting friendships during their time living in Maine, Florida, and Texas. Bruce was a faithful volunteer at several soup kitchens and food pantries and loved to boast that he could make egg salad for 100 sandwiches at a time.

Bruce was preceded in death by former wife and lifelong friend Liz O’Donnell. He is survived by husband Kevin Brown, sister Patricia Roberts (Bill), daughters Susan Bondy (JD) of Dallas, TX; Kimberly Conlon (Chris) of Anchorage, Alaska and his grandchildren David Bondy, Andrew Bondy, Ashley Conlon and Nathan Conlon.

Services will be held at the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday, July 25, 2026, at 1PM. All are welcome to attend the service and reception afterwards at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to iCARE, a ministry of the Cathedral of Hope. Go to: https://www.cathedralofhope.com/give-today, scroll down and click the gold “Give now” button, choose “iCare and Pack the Pantry” from the dropdown menu.

The family would like to express their deeply felt gratitude to VITAS Health and Hospice Care for both their in-home and inpatient care during the past 6 months.