Elizabeth G. Bruce, 94

March 10, 1921 - October 22, 2015

Elizabeth Bruce died peacefully on October 22, 2015. She was 94 years old.
Elizabeth Cameron Gabel, eldest child of Philip Henry Gabel and Elizabeth Cameron Livingstone Gabel was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 10, 1921. Betty, as she was known, was a superior student and an outstanding athlete. She graduated from Emanuel Training High School in 1937 at age 16. She continued her education at Brooklyn College where she majored in Sociology and Spanish and was president of the Kappa Delta sorority. She graduated in 1941. Following college, Betty completed a course at Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School.
The love of Betty’s life was her husband of 35 years, Robert Bruce Jr. They met as high school sophomores and continued to date throughout their years at Brooklyn College. Betty and Bob were married in November of 1942 and had four children – one every four years. Following World War II, they moved to Nassau County, NY. They rented their first home in the original Levittown, then bought a Levitt house in Westbury, and finally moved to their dream house near Long Island Sound in Locust Valley in 1967. It was here that they spent some of their happiest moments, walking the beach together.
Betty was a traditional wife, putting her husband and children first. She was elegantly and naturally beautiful, independent, consistent, frugal, fair and kind. When her husband was diagnosed with leukemia in 1976, she felt that she needed to brush up on her secretarial skills and go back to work. She found a job at Long Island University that September. Betty worked as secretary to University Chancellor Albert Bush-Brown until he retired in 1985 and then worked for President David Steinberg as an administrative assistant. She retired in 1987 and traveled throughout Europe. Restless in retirement, Betty returned to work part-time in the administrative offices at LIU in 1990, and retired again in 2007, at age 86. She was very proud of being honored as a loyal part of the university family during LIU’s 75th anniversary celebration. She is remembered by her colleagues for her efficiency and organization, for making cakes on birthdays and for being kind to everyone.
Betty loved to travel and never missed the graduation of a grandchild or a holiday celebration with the family. Into her eighties, she would take the LIRR into Manhattan to meet her granddaughter, where they would explore museums together. She loved going to the US Open Tennis Tournament and watching tennis and the Olympics on TV. As child on Staten Island she learned to swim, received an invitation to try out for the 1936 Olympics in free style and continued competitive swimming thru college. Betty found joy in swimming for the rest of her life. She swam every summer day in Long Island Sound until she was in her mid eighties and walked the beach in every season. She loved to read, cook, sew, and over her lifetime, crocheted over 100 afghans for family and friends. Betty lived independently until 2008, when she moved to Lititz, PA to live near her son. When asked what kept her going, her response was, “walking and working, reading the New York Times and going to the library”.
Betty was a true matriarch in a family of strong women and the patient, confident men who support them. She is survived by her children Susan Cameron Bruce and her husband Frederick Hauck, Nancy Bruce Foot, Robert Bruce III and his wife Maureen and Elizabeth Bruce Myers and her husband Stephen. Her grand daughters are Kimberly Holden, Elizabeth Holden Thompson, Jennifer Holden, Mary Rachel Foot, Katie Bruce and Devon Myers Liedtke. Her grandsons are Jesse Foot and Christopher Myers. Her great grandchildren are Lily, Isabella, Giulietta, Alice, Vanessa, Anastasia, Emilia, Owen, Sophie, Tucker and Lucy. She is also survived by her sister Ruth Gabel Hutchins and her sister-in-law Jean Bruce Prier. She was predeceased by her brother Philip Henry Jr. We will all miss our Mom, our Grandma, our Great Grandma Betty and friend. She has been reunited with our Dad, Robert Bruce, Jr., the love of her life, who died too soon, 37 years ago.
We wish to thank the staff at Moravian Manor for the gentle care that they gave Betty in her last years. In lieu of flowers donations in her memory can be sent to the Moravian Manor, 300 West Lemon Street, Lititz, PA 17543, or National Alzheimer’s Association, PO Box 96011, Washington DC 20090-6011.