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Bruce Dennis

April 3, 1933 – November 26, 2018

Bruce Moffatt
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— Gordon A. Monk Funeral Home Ltd.

Obituary for Bruce Dennis Moffatt

In Loving Memory of Bruce Dennis Moffatt

Husband, Father, Grandfather, Friend, Advisor, All-Around Good Guy

Passed away peacefully at home on November 26, 2018, in his 85th year.

Survived by his son Bruce Jeffrey Moffatt (Sandra, Connor, Christopher); his daughter Carol Ann Moffatt (Tony Aymong); and predeceased by his son Andrew James (Andy) in 1979 and his beloved Betty Rae in 2017.

Bruce was born and raised near Oakwood & Rogers, the youngest of three boys. When the school system suggested he move along at the age of 16, he did a brief stint at a pickle factory before serving 40 faithful years at the Continental Can Company, working his way up from mail-boy to management.

Bruce was an avid reader, a World War aficionado, and a dedicated crossword puzzler. He had a wry wit and told wonderfully stupid jokes. He was a gifted speaker involved in the Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters and Rotary, the latter of which awarded him the Paul Harris Fellow.

As a father, he invented hilarious Captain Blackjack bedtime stories with his kids as the heroes. He was the perennial coach, driver, repairman and supporter for myriad sports and activities. He had a formidable moral compass and always sought the high road, saying, "The Browns may do it and the Joneses may do it but the Moffatts don't do it...".

He was the Grandpa who dressed up as Santa, read bedtime stories and wasn’t afraid to be goofy. He was a father figure to others who looked to his steady, thoughtful manner for guidance.

Bruce never forgot his meager beginnings; he was grateful for, and proud of, all he and Betty achieved together. A common phrase, as he raised a glass around a table of family or friends was, "Not bad, eh?".

He met Betty in grade 8 and despite throwing her boots down the well, the two became inseparable, eventually celebrating 61 years of marriage in 2016. He never stopped making her laugh.

Bruce came to Betty’s family cottage in the 1940s and that funny old place became the foundation of a million memories framed by a spectacular sunset. Bruce called the sunset’s ripples his “golden staircase” and in later years, he would look at that view for hours.

When Bruce and Betty retired to the cottage, they forged an enviable retirement with lifelong friends from the city and new-found friends in Haliburton.

Bruce was a homebody and a perpetual putterer, happy to poke around in the garage and yard in his clunky rubber boots - fixing, mending, painting, mowing. He could also be the life of a party, as evidenced by his alter ego "Coconut Bruce", a one-time party prank captured in a single blurry photo.

In 2008, Bruce suffered a stroke, leaving him with a common post-stroke communication disorder called Aphasia. It robbed him of language and challenged his comprehension. It silenced the jokes, stories, and advice; effectively eliminating many of the traits and activities that defined him - but it never dampened his humour.

Aphasia is hard work - and extremely isolating, and even as friends stopped calling and his world became smaller, Bruce demonstrated tremendous grace and patience amid family and a few good friends who continued to see him behind the garbled facade.

Bruce and Betty were two halves of a whole, and Betty's unexpected death in 2017 was an unrecoverable blow for Bruce. A second stroke just months afterward marked the beginning of a steady decline.

There are no words to describe this loss, the final chapter of two lives so entwined. If Bruce was stubborn, private and proud-to-a-fault, he was also humble, funny, reflective and generous; a true gentleman.

Bruce's was a life well lived, ultimately proving that it's not a fancy education or an ivory tower career that makes a man; it's honest work wrapped in kindness, family, friends and humour.


Cremation has taken place and Bruce didn’t want a funeral service or celebration. Bruce and Betty are together again and that makes things right with the world.