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Halstead, Bruce

(April 1st, 2023)

Beloved husband, father, brother, grandfather, and great grandfather.  Bruce passed away peacefully at home with family by his side on April 1, 2023 in Nelson, BC.  Bruce was the second oldest of four children born in Calgary, Alberta to Charles and Alice Halstead, but resided in Okotoks until he left home.   At a young age Bruce married Gloria Watt and moved to Calgary where they raised their four children, Laurel, Sheryl, Teryl, and Tom.  Bruce remarried Sherri raising their two children, Matthew and Melinda in Nelson BC.

Bruce joined the Calgary City Police at the age of 19, but switched to the Calgary Fire Department one year later, staying with them for seven years.  During his time with the Fire Department Bruce was also employed as an ambulance driver for five years.

Missing the police force Bruce and his family moved to Victoria, BC, where he joined the Victoria Police.  During his career he had many various duties such as patrol, drug squad, and CLUE (organized crime).  After eight years with the Victoria Police, Bruce chose to take a different path for a year and bought a commercial fishing boat called the Five Kings II.  Bruce soon realized that he was missing the police force and then had the opportunity to join the Nelson City Police in June 1977 until he retired as Sgt. in 2000.  Bruce was seconded to the Justice Institute of BC in Vancouver as the program coordinator and instructor from 1985-1988.

Bruce was extremely active in many community services such as Foresters, Eagles, Lions, and Ducks Unlimited.  He was extremely well known for his love and passion for the Kootenay Romania Relief organization which he and Sherri started in 1993.  Over the next 30 years, 13 containers were shipped to Romania with each container containing roughly 10,000 pieces of clothing for the villages, as well as medical equipment, computers, and various other supplies.  Bruce made 39 trips to Romania to complete the charity work and was known as “Papa Bruce” by many of the orphans.

Bruce was Citizen of the Year in 2012 and served on the Nelson District School Board.  He was an avid fisherman and hunter and travelled to Tuya Lake 37 times hunting moose and caribou.  Bruce donated all the wild meat to the Wild and Tame game dinner held annually at the First Baptist Church for 22 years.  To add to the many community activities Bruce would also spend his time with Our Daily Bread helping out in many ways as he could, by donating food and picking up food for the organization.

Bruce is survived by his wife Sherri of 37 years, children Laurel (Pudge), Sheryl, Teryl (Dana), Tom (Karen), Matthew (Christina), and Melinda (Kevin).  Also survived by his sister Linda Halstead, five grandchildren: Chanel, Dana, Josh, Parker, Cru, two great grandchildren, Rozen & Ellie, as well as many sister & brother-in-laws, nieces, nephews, and other relatives.  Bruce was predeceased by his father Charles, mother Alice, brother Dennis, and sister Beverley.

Bruce had a heart of gold and will be missed by all his family and friends.

The family will be holding a Celebration of Life at the First Baptist Church, Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 11:00 am.

 

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