He never really said much, and Bruce Gorham wasn’t from Flandreau, so it’s likely many of you never knew him.
But there are a lot that did, especially our kids.
Bruce was a school bus driver at the end of his career here in the Flandreau Public School District. He drove for years — the regular morning and after school route, and as well to various activities and events.
Quite honestly, that is how we were blessed to get to know him. And knowing the kind soul that he was, was a blessing for us all.
Bruce was punctual and pulled up in the driveway about 7 a.m. every morning to pick up my daughter for school after we moved to the area ourselves. It was a tough time for my daughter, and she wasn’t a big fan of school to begin with.
Bruce patiently waited and greeted her each day with a smile. And he did so day after day after day, asking every time I’d see him in recent years, how she was doing.
I had the pleasure to get to know Bruce a little better as a friend here over the past couple of years as he would stop into our own local venue in the afternoons, as he felt up to it, for a soda with some of the other soda and coffee drinkers in town. They gather at 3 p.m. nearly every day to catch up and check-in.
We miss him.
Bruce, who was born in 1943 in Madison, SD, began his career in sales but quickly moved into trucking. His career took him all over the country.
But he called Flandreau home.
Bus driver Bruce, as I have him in my phone, passed away quietly after a battle with cancer in late January. His family and friends, hoping to give others that knew him a chance to honor him, are hosted a memorial gathering this past Tuesday night.
His obituary can be found on page two.
