Bruce Sinclair Dryburgh's Obituary
Bruce Sinclair Dryburgh passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Friday April 14, 2023.
Bruce was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on November 9, 1943, to Jane (Eriksen) and Walter Scott Dryburgh Jr. In high school, Bruce played football, threw shotput and was a lifeguard at Hoyt swimming pool. Bruce attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he got his BBA in Finance and his MBA. He soon started work at Schlitz as a financial analyst and married Nancy Surmacz, whom he’d known since the first grade. Soon the two, along with their daughter Audrey, left Wisconsin for Nebraska and eventually for Texas where they had their son Jordan.
Bruce began his long career at General Portland where he held multiple roles in finance over the years, eventually becoming Senior VP-Finance, and then Senior VP at LaFarge after the buy-out, before an early retirement in his late forties left him ready for a new challenge, law school. Always a voracious reader, Bruce excelled in SMU law school and opened his own practice with friend and classmate David Moraine. Bruce truly enjoyed the law but made sure not to practice family law. After thirty years of marriage, Bruce and Nancy divorced. Bruce settled into single life for a few years before marrying Lyn Cowan Emerson at a little glass chapel in the woods. The two shared a love for small town life and the beauty of Colorado.
In 2002, Bruce retired from practicing law and moved to Pagosa Springs with Lyn. Over his 21 years in Pagosa, Bruce made great friends, including wonderful neighbors and supportive friends at AA, skied a lot- even when he needed to do so with an oxygen pack on his back, and excelled in the Senior Olympics where he won 11 medals between the ages of 69 and 75. Bruce served as President of the Archuleta School Board for 8 years from 2005 to 2013 and accomplished many improvements, including raising teachers’ salaries and supporting home school groups. Bruce loved snow skiing, motorcycles, spending time with family, and working in his yard and gardens.
Bruce is survived by his wife Lyn Cowan Dryburgh, his two children Audrey Herrera and Jordan Dryburgh, his step kids Kelly and Grant, and all their spouses, Robert, Marty, Dwayne, and Kathi, his siblings Scott, Mary, and Erik, along with 11 grandchildren and his dog, Zelda who misses him very much too.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Pagosa on July 30th. On September 8th, a Celebration of Life will be held in Milwaukee, followed on September 9th by a private family funeral and burial at their family church in North Lake.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:
- AA of Pagosa Springs,
— write a check to Alcoholics Anonymous
— mail it to:
Roger Scott
336 Twincreek Circle
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
— Roger will get it to the AA group in Pagosa Springs. Roger was Bruce’s sponsor in AA.
— AA is NOT a 503 c3 non-profit organization
*Archuleta Salvation Army,
— write a check to Archuleta Salvation Army
— mail it to:
Archuleta Salvation Army
PO Box 1567
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
— Salvation Army is a 503 c3 non-profit organization
*Archuleta Schools Scholarship Program,
— write a check to Archuleta Scholarships in Escrow
— mail it to:
Mike Branch
PO Box 1333
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147
— Mike is the accountant for the program
— the scholarship program is a 503 c3 non-profit organization
or to the charity of choice.
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