Elizabeth Jack "Bibby" Bruce

The Virginian-Pilot, (Norfolk, VA) July 17, 2001

Elizabeth Jack ``Bibby'' Bruce died in Portsmouth on July 14, 2001, at the age of 96. Mrs. Bruce, formerly of Naval Avenue in the Park View area of Portsmouth, was the widow of William R. Bruce Sr. She was the daughter of the late Laurence McKay Jack and Mary Eleanor Davis Jack, and the granddaughter of Eugenious Alexander Jack, who served as steam engineer of the CSS Virginia (the Merrimack). She was a member of Monumental United Methodist Church in Portsmouth since her birth in 1904.

Mrs. Bruce was a 1926 graduate of Randolph-Macon Women's College, where she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honorary fraternity and was president of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. She enjoyed teaching Latin and French at Cradock High School for more than 20 years. She received the Volunteer Recognition Award in 1990 from the Volunteer Action Center for her dedicated service as a surgical hostess of Portsmouth General Hospital, where she logged more than 8,100 hours of volunteer work.

She served on the Portsmouth Public Library Board for more than 20years. She was a member of the Fort Nelson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for more than 70 years, and of the Wednesday Study Club, the Students' Club, and the Miriam Gruber Circle of Monumental UM Church.

Mrs. Bruce is survived by her daughter, Mary Eleanor Bruce McCombie and her husband Robert of Virginia Beach; by her son, William R. Bruce Jr. and his wife Rita of Smithville, Tenn.; by nine grandchildren, Mary Eleanor McCombie of New Haven, Conn., and her husband Harris Friedberg, Ann McCombie Landry of Dover, N.H., and her husband David, Katherine Bruce of Kure Beach, N.C., and her husband Mark Galizio, Elizabeth Bruce Donley of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and her husband Greg, Margaret Bruce Connor of Austin, Texas, and her husband Sean, Bruce McCombie of Fredericksburg, Va., and his wife Susan, William Robert Bruce of Memphis, Tenn., Andrew Bruce of Lorton, Va., and his wife Elizabeth, and Alexander Bruce of Lakeland, Fla., and his wife Kathryn; her nieces, Sarah Rice of Portsmouth and Jacqueline Freeman of Largo, Fla., and her husband Philip; and nephew, Brooks Parker of Portsmouth and his wife Colliver; 18 great-grandchildren; and her special friend, Rudolf Lotz.