July 23, 1948 – February 26, 2021

On February 26th Bruce passed away from respiratory failure after a 5 month stay at RIH battling pneumonia and it’s complications. He fought hard but in the end it was too much to overcome.

Born in Kamloops to Brian and Jean Tedder (Ramsay) he lived all of his life in his beloved Valleyview. Predeceased by his grandparents, parents, all his aunts and uncles and four cousins. He is survived by his brother Ralph, four cousins and many friends.

Bruce faced many mental and physical challenges in his life, including bullying and dealing with ignorant people when he was younger. As a young child our parents were told by doctors and so-called experts that he would not live a long life, attend regular school or be employable. Although I am sure he was not aware of this prognosis, he proved them wrong by living into his 73rd year, finishing grade 10 in public school and working most of his adult life. His two favourite jobs were at the Bookworm bookstore and being the handy-man at Kiddies Corner Day Care. Work was very important to him, and he never cheated his employers. It gave him purpose and made him feel like a contributing member of society. That was all he wanted, normalcy.

He played most sports in his youth, but was quite good at softball (pitcher) and tennis, playing the latter into his early 60’s.

His many other interests included reading, photography, watching wrestling (although he sometimes took that too seriously) and following his 4 favourite teams (BC Lions, Canucks, Blue Jays and Blazers) on the radio and tv. However, he was very passionate about bike-riding, music (a collection of 150 albums and 250+ CD’s and DVD’s) watching videos (over 500, many of which he taped himself) and most importantly model railroading (a layout with over 500 cars, including 125+ engines.) It was always a good day if he had a 45-minute bike ride (stationary bike in winter) shot some hoops, played his keyboard and ran or worked on his model railroad.

Special thanks to Steve Quiney, Audrey Willford, Brian and Wendy Kelly, the Makela’s, the Berna family, past and present employees of Valleyview Shoppers Drug Mart and the different owners of Kiddies Corner Daycare. Your support and friendship over the years meant the world to him.

Thank you also to the doctors and nurses at RIH that worked with him. I know he wasn’t always the easiest patient to deal with.

Bruce always said he wanted to live to be 100. He fell a little short, but had a great run. It won’t be the same without him traversing the streets of Valleyview on his bike, watching over the neighbourhood from the bench at the top of the garden or sitting at the park gazebo hoping to take a picture of a passing train.

He is now off on a new journey, to a much better place where the bike rides are endless and where he will be with family, friends and understanding people. No more pain, struggles or torment. He will be missed by many, and my life is forever changed.

Rest in peace, Bruce.

No service by request.

You may express condolences by visiting Schoening Funeral Services.

• Date : 2021-02-26
• Location : Kamloops