Bruce was born in Shanghai, China in 1922. He lived in the Philippines as a youngster, moving to the Bay Area, California in 1928. He has one brother, Dean. Their father had a lumber business on the island of Mindanao, in Zamboanga, where he harvested mahogany and exported it through the Orient and to the United States.

Bruce attended Stanford University as a pre-med student, then earned a degree in orthopedic medicine from Columbia University in New York. In 1947 he met and married Margery Jane Foote, who was from California, working in New York City. He served in the first MASH unit in the Korean war in 1950-51, then practised medicine in Monterey, California until retirement to become a ranch manager on Margery's family ranch. His yellow lab, Mango, is his able assistant.

He turned 90 in July, 2012. View his life story in an interactive photobook by clicking image below.