Bruce Steven Terrill's Obituary
Bruce Steven Terrill was born on February 12, 1923 in DeLeon, Texas and passed away on September 15, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Everywhere that Dad wrote of his impending death, he began with the sentence, “I’ve had a wonderful life!” and he repeated it often to his family. He felt fortunate to have had the career that he had envisioned from 5th grade on, that of a medical doctor. He loved his patients and retired at the age of 83, after practicing medicine since the age of 24. He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1947, a member of the honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha. He married Marilyn Joyce Freeland at the age of 21, in 1944, after meeting her at North Texas University. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, his daughter and son-in-law, Cynthia and Weldon S. Guest, M.D., and his two sons: Bruce S. Terrill, Jr. and his wife Christa; and Gregory Kent Terrill. They have six beloved grandchildren: Christopher Terrill, Courtney Guest Kim, Traci Terrill, Kristen Tiller, Keith Robinson, and Emilie Guest Wu. They have ten beloved great- grandchildren: the children of Dr. Tony and Courtney Guest Kim: Elizabeth, Anthony, Rebecca and Lydia, of Houston; and Greg Terrill’s grandchildren: Jackson, Julia, and Joseph, children of Kristin and Maury Tiller; and Eva, Dillon and Catherine, children of Keith and Jennifer Robinson, all of the Dallas area. Dr. Terrill loved his family and relatives, his patients, and especially his grandchildren and their spouses, and his great-grandchildren. Until the time that he entered Assisted Living at the age of 92, he never stopped planning for their futures, constantly rewriting his codicils to try to keep up with their lives and potential needs. Dr. Terrill enjoyed serving in the navy as an officer and medical doctor. He served in the Korean War aboard the Lake Champlain aircraft carrier. He loved traveling to all of the many ports of call and brought back many wonderful memories and souvenirs for his family. He and his wife Marilyn enjoyed traveling extensively in subsequent years, attending medical conferences in the US and Central and South America. As a director of the Stephenville Savings and Loan, and later as the director of the Addison State Bank, they traveled to Hawaii at least twice with a group of fellow bank officers. When their daughter Cynthia lived in France with her family, they made many trips to Paris and Europe to visit them. Their last great trip was with Bruce’s beloved brother-in-law, George Freeland, and his wife Mackie, to Russia. Never ones to be daunted by worries and fears, Bruce and Marilyn had the trip of a lifetime to Moscow and St. Petersburg while Russia was still in a state of chaos under Yeltsin. Bruce loved his ranch, the Half Circle T Ranch, purchased in 1954 in Stephenville, TX, while he was a partner in the Stephenville Hospital group. He spent many wonderful seasons there with his family and long-time friends in Stephenville. He enjoyed going to his ranch until he entered Assisted Living in the fall of 2015. He still loved hearing about his cows and ranch from his son Steve until the age of 93. Bruce wrote in Feb. of 2010, “If I die quickly, good!” Don’t spend much on a coffin, but please enjoy yourself at my funeral— and hope you have champagne and catered food. He wrote at the end of his hand-written obituary, to please play the song he had loved for many years, “The Wippenpoof Song,” as sung by Bing Crosby and the Glee Club and released in July of 1947. He wrote, “Remember, I love you all!” Family will receive friends on Monday, September 19, 2016 from 6-8 PM at Restland Funeral Home.Private family service to be held. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted into Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75243.
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