Christmas cards

Words

From Chris Bruce (Older Brother)

Well Pete, you have gone on before me; even before our dear mother, and this is the greatest tragedy. However, you will be missed, not only by your immediate family, but by so many friends across the world; for you were a much loved man.

Having known you practically from the very beginning of your life I have been trying to bring to mind those memories which begin in the city of Leicester. Your first home was number one Pultney Road; a prefab which was such a happy home for our parents shortly after the war ended. It was here we began growing up together and took the first steps on our remarkable and unexpected journeys through life; for who could have imagined where those roads would lead? For sure, we have spent much of our time on the move but, of course, you much more than I. Was it at this house we first learned to garden, an interest that has stayed with us all of our lives? Our dad could not do the heavy work due to injuries sustained at sea during the war, so we would dig, plant and harvest from an early age in both our garden and allotment. It seems, even on the edge of the city, we were surrounded by countryside and, like all kids in those days, were allowed to roam freely. “Go out and play” was the most common instruction from parents. And we did go out and play for hours on end until our empty bellies brought us home for our midday dinner or home-made bread and jam at teatime. Ours was a slightly unconventional home with an invalided father taking over one room for his oil painting, our loving and always busy mum keeping him fuelled with cups of tea. There was so much love and security even if money was tight and our income relied on dad selling a painting occasionally to supplement his war pension.

As an older brother I was not always happy to have you tagging along when I went off with my friends – I felt so grown up in relation to anyone a couple of years younger than me. However, I remember getting a hiding from dad after telling you not to accompany me and my gang to the local park. I was in deep trouble, for older brothers were meant to look after younger siblings in those days and from that time on, we seemed always to be in each other’s company.

You were a quiet and self-contained young chap but always so knowledgeable. I think you knew everything about the world before I did – even the facts of life which you passed on to your amazed and startled brother. But this was after we had moved to Scarborough - having acquired two wonderful sisters who would always be so dear to you. Later, together with Sandra and Shirley we found ourselves attending the Mamie Benson Stage Academy. Not many people who became acquainted with you later in life would guess you were a hot shot at tap dancing, and your ballet and acrobatics weren’t bad either. I remember that we often couldn’t resist spending our return bus fares on chips with the result that we had to walk the three miles home in the dark. What an odd twist of fate made our parents give us this opportunity to tread the boards. I think it had a great deal to do with an evening dad spent in the pub with a neighbour who happened to know a dance teacher. Quite an extraordinary flight of fancy, but our dad, and mum too, were always imaginative and this creativity has manifested itself in all their children. Your painting and writing, not to mention your skill at cooking huge banquets for family and friends are a testament to this.

But the really remarkable aspect about your abilities was clear from those early days when you were so brilliant at school. Unlike me, who fell to pieces when faced with an examination paper, your intelligence and confidence took you through the hurdles of education and eventually made you a captain well before you were thirty years of age. Not content with these qualifications, you studied and passed exams in ship-broking whilst still at sea. Later in life you lamented that the training you received was not being maintained in later generations of seamen across the world. This meant that your knowledge was still much in demand right up until the end. I believe your passing will leave a huge chasm in your area of expertise which will be difficult to fill.

You were always excited by doing business in Asia and certainly enjoyed the challenges it brought. I am not sure how often you came out on top but I know you made some money and, occasionally, lost it. But you were quite philosophical about any setbacks, always able to bounce back. Of course, you were not always helped by the fact that you were basically such a lovely guy. There were occasions when you might have been a little exasperating but you were always so kind, a trifle sentimental perhaps and generous to a fault. These are not the qualities that make a ruthless businessman but they certainly made us all love you. An example of your true spirit was the time you picked up a boatload of refugees, fully knowing the difficulties this would bring. It ended up nearly ruining you before you were allowed into a port which would accept your unplanned cargo. I believe many ships would not have stopped to make the rescue and, instead, would have left these poor souls to their fate. Their fate, in fact, was to meet up with your extraordinary humanity.

I left home to train as a dancer when you were around twelve years old, which meant we saw little of each other except during holidays. And then, while relatively young, it was your turn to leave the nest and begin your training. This meant that our lives grew apart as we matured in our own very different worlds. However, there were wonderful meetings when I would listen to your Conrad and Somerset Maugham-like stories of experiences in the exotic places you visited. I never quite knew how much to believe but spinning a sea yarn was very much part of our father’s culture. Remember all those stories he would tell to his wide-eyed and open-mouthed children? Perhaps that is where our creative imaginations were born.

For the most part, long distance phone calls have been the means of maintaining contact between us but two recent images are still fresh in my mind. Firstly, a few years ago, you spent some time with Marian and me in Somerset. You and I decided to go for a bike ride and we set off along the country lanes. It was all I could do to keep up with you as your little legs pedalled away furiously. I thought you were merely determined to stay fit because you were quite fanatical about your exercises. However, after about five miles you came to a screeching halt at a junction. When I came up alongside you your face was bright red and dripping with sweat, I asked why you were in such a hurry. It turned out you hadn’t bicycled for years and were afraid that if you slowed down you might just fall off into the hedge. You reasoned it was safer to keep pedalling. We did eventually stop to recover and enjoy a much appreciated pint in Witham Friary but we had covered so many miles by the time we returned home it took three days for my legs to recover and I’m sure you were still suffering on your flight home

The other image is quite recent, at our mother’s 91^st birthday celebrations in May. I know you have always loved children and it was so wonderful to see you stretched out on the floor playing games with two of my grandchildren, Jack and Layla who had accompanied me to Scarborough. You were quite obviously having a great time and constantly amused by them. I was always keen for you to come and spend more time with my crazy grand-kids because I just knew they would give you so much joy. Humour was such an important part of your character and your laughter so infectious. I am so sorry we couldn’t make the time to bring you together more with the latest generation of our tribe, but I well remember the pride and love you had for your own family, and I can only imagine the pain they are enduring at present.

At my time in life I am getting used to losing friends and colleagues but to lose a brother is a shattering experience. It was far too soon, especially when I know you were looking forward to slowing down and having time for your creative pursuits. The move to Sydney was to be a new beginning for you and Tina and it seems so unfair that you couldn’t live to experience it. Marian’s and my thoughts are with your beloved wife, Tina and your wonderful sons, Tony and Andy. You will live on in these men and, in time to come, in their offspring. Let us hope this will be of some comfort to all of us left grieving.

There is so much more I could write but I am conscious there will be many people wanting to speak about you. I am a dancer, not a writer so I do hope these words will be worthy of you. Know that Marian, our children and grandchildren back here in the old country are remembering you with deep emotion or, in the case of the two youngest who, sadly, you never got to meet, are being told of your extraordinary life.

So, I must bid farewell and, sadly, from such a distance. However, in a few months the European side of the clan, together with many of your friends, will meet in Scarborough to celebrate your life. You will be remembered with such deep affection and this will continue long after these ceremonies have been completed.

Pete, until we meet again on the other side and can, perhaps, tap dance together again -

I send you all of my love,

Chris

 

Tony Bruce (oldest son)

Dad had the kind of life most of us dream about.

Having experiences from all over the world and meeting all kinds of people from prince to pauper.

A world traveler with a collection of stories to share.

And when possible we would be right there with him sharing some of these experiences.

We got to experience more of the world by the time we were teenagers then most people get to experience in their life time.

By the time I was 12 and we reached Australia I had already lived in Taiwan, Spain and Hong Kong and had also traveled to a number of different places.

I have great joy in reflecting back and sometimes can't actually remember which country the memory I'm having occurred in.

It is a fantastic memory problem to have.

And I believe that is what we need to do, we mourn but more importantly we enjoy the memories we have.

And I would like to share some of my memories.

I remember living in Spain, my dad surrounded by the latest business gadgets. Fax machines and green screen computers and such.

And although he spent money on the latest gadgets for some reason he decided to buy a cheap old White Mercedes.

I like to believe he thought it looked classy although classy doesn't always mean working.

It broke down a lot.

One day dad was taking us to school which we only about 10-15 minutes away and it broke down and we had to hitchhike.

I believe that might have been the last straw and soon after we had a new car.

I remember in Spain our bikes were stolen.

Dad somehow found out where they were and drove into what I can only describe as a gypsy camp.

He managed to get them back, I'm not sure how he did that but of course the way he described it was along the lines of walking in, flexing a bicep and the bikes were returned.

I remember on one occasion in high school we had a geek day and I had the following conversation with my dad.

'Dad can I borrow some clothes?'

'Sure, why?'

'We're having a geek day at school'

It made him laugh and he sent the conversation to the Sydney Morning Herald and it made it into the Column 8 section.

Dad always loved animals and in Hong Kong one time he went out for a jog and came back with a bird. I think it was a budgie.

It was very tame and obviously a pet and was just sitting in the street.

I'm pretty sure it was the first time I'd seen a person holding a bird.

I was amazed he'd caught it.

I remember when we were in Forestville dad traveled less but was away for different periods of time.

One time he was supposed to be away for a few weeks and mum was away as well.

Being a teenage boy with a parentless house I of course threw a party.

Dad returned early.

He returned to a number of my friends asleep through out the house.

After throwing them out he woke Andy up who I believe instantly ratted me out.

I don't remember exactly what happened, I assume I had some cleaning up to do but I do remember one question he had for me.

He took me to one of the rooms and asked 'how did that happen?', he pointed up and on the ceiling there was a shoe print.

I have no idea how that happened and at the time he didn't find it so funny, it become another story of his and to this day he still muses about it.

I remember I always thought my dad had the biggest arms and was so strong, almost Popeye like and when I was young I would wrap my hands around his arm and he'd lift me off the ground.

But then he'd do one better and my brother would wrap his hands around dads other arm and he'd lift us both up!

My dad was the strongest man in the world.

And that is one of the strongest memories I have. My dad. The strongest man in the world.

Andy Bruce (Youngest Son)

Dad liked to travel, I never met anyone as well travelled as he was and when he was able too he liked to take his family with him. Before I was born mum would join dad on the ships he worked on, this was in the good old days of shipping, according to dad, as that wouldn’t happen these days. Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of the excitement of going to airports because I knew I was about to have a little adventure with my parents and sitting in those big planes seats and playing games to pass the time. Unfortunately the seats got smaller and smaller the older I got, but I still have a sense of excitement when I go to the airport, that sense of going on a small adventure.

Dad taught me to be self-reliant; to take care of myself and this trait came in very useful when I was old enough to begin my own travels. In my backpacking days I never got myself into any trouble that I couldn’t get myself out of, I never needed to call on him for any help. I think the reason I was so confident and was never scared when I first started travelling was because dad was my safety net. I knew that if I ever got into real trouble and needed his help, no matter what he was doing or where he was in the world he would be on the first plane to wherever I was.

Just after I finished High School, when dad was working in Gibraltar and I was travelling in England he called me up and asked if I wanted to help him transport an oil barge from Antwerp, Brussels to Gibraltar. This meant steering the barge though the canals of Brussels and France to the south coast of France, specifically Seté, and then heading out into the ocean along the coast line until reaching Spain and continuing along the east coast of Spain until finally reaching Gibraltar. He said it would be fun and an adventure and he was right, it was both.

We had a few mishaps along the way, but as always dad took care of everything and he did so with his schoolboy level of French and his even worse level of Spanish. Barges aren’t meant to travel on the ocean, they are a flat bottomed boat and therefore don’t cut through waves so much as just bounce on top of them. I was seasick, very seasick and I’m sure even dad felt queasy during the times of bad weather but in his usual way he just got on with the job. Using the second hand sea charts he’d bought and the consumer level GPS that he couldn’t get a reading with unless he stepped outside the cabin, he managed to guide us into Gibraltar.

This adventure took us roughly 6 weeks to complete and it is something that dad and I remembered fondly and talked about a lot. During that period we both set a record for longest days without a shower as the barge had no facilities, it was a work barge and was not meant to be lived on. In case you’re wondering it was 11 days and we never wanted to come close to breaking the record ever again. I don’t think dad made a lot of money on this deal, he certainly didn’t lose money however he didn’t really earn what his time was worth, but he told me he didn’t do this one for the money he did it so we can have this time together.

Dad also taught me to treat everyone with respect and kindness, he was not a violent or aggressive man and I can count on one hand the times he ever punished me for anything and I sure I deserved a spanking at the time. Dad shaped me into the man I am today, he showed me that real men love and take care of their family and friends, that they try and do what’s right even if it make things harder, that they not take life too seriously and have fun because you never know when it will all end.

Thank you dad.

From Sandra Bruce (Younger Sister)

Peter. Thanks for being my brother. Thanks for being Laura and Jaime's proud uncle, and thanks for being Jim's faithful brother-in-law. There must be something funny to say about your leaving us but I'm damned if I can think of it.

Love you,
Sandra

From Shirley Bruce (Youngest Sister)

Well Pete, we all wanted you to slow down and take life at an easier pace, but we never expected you to go this far.

As the shock of your sudden departure slowly sinks in, the memories come flooding back at a tremendous pace, disjointed like an unedited movie before the final cut. Even during the most mundane tasks something will spark a thought, a feeling a memory of you. Mostly that wicked chuckle of yours and your ready smile.

One of my most profound memories is the day you left to join the Merchant Navy I was 8 years old, the night before we had a fashion parade, you in your uniform which mum with her expert needlecraft skills had altered to fit you to perfection and the huge yellow oilskins and souwester which kept falling down over your eyes, you looked like Paddington bear, I wondered if you ever did wear them?

I cried so much when you left and watched you walk down the street huge knapsack on your back, until you disappeared, I was heartbroken. The excitement of you coming home on leave was like Christmas and birthdays all in one, you always arrived home when I was tucked up in bed, I’d try and stay awake but always fell asleep and in the morning my pillow would be lumpy and uncomfortable, filled with treasures from your travels all placed under my pillow whilst I slept.

That first parting was the start of your amazing, exiting journey through life, a life lived at the fastest pace and to the full, it lead you to meeting your beautiful wife Tina and the birth of your adored sons Tony and Andy. And always whenever you came home to Scarborough, I would still be that excited little girl, waiting for her big brother and anticipating the stories of your adventures, and I still cried every time you left.

Your love of family and your pride in us all and our children will stay with us forever, you may have been small in stature, but you had the heart and soul of a giant. This last parting, this last journey, has left me even more heartbroken, the tears do not cease to flow.

Goodbye my brother may this journey be your most exciting adventure ever.

Love always Shirl

Yee Wha Cheng (Aunt Laura Sister-in-law)

We are saddened by the loss of our dear brother-in-law Peter. When Peter and Tina first got married, they came to visit us in New York. Despite the language barrier, he played mahjong with our mom, his new mother-in-law and even won her money. I remember when he made the special trip to New York just for our mother's 80th birthday party. We all had a great time. Peter will always be remembered as a wonderful and generous man, and he will be missed.

Wing Tsang (Uncle Wing Brother-in-law)

My brother-in-law, Peter, was a wonderful man. He took good care of his family and loved by all. It is indeed so sorrow for us to accept the loss of a delightful family member.

I knew Peter in Hong Kong. Shortly after, my family moved to New York. Peter stayed with us most of the time when he came to New York. We played mahjong together and he was a good mahjong player. Peter was also very good in calligraphy and painting. He practiced his script penmanship and oil painting skill at his free time. He painted two pretty pictures of red rose on black velvet. Both paintings were framed and placed in an art gallery for sale and were sold in relative short time. Peter loved to read and learn new skills. I remembered that he took a speed reading class in New York and taught me the tricks of speed reading after his training.

During these years, Peter visited New York many times. As a family, my parents, all brothers, sisters and family members went out with him for dinners and took pictures. Those were wonderful moments. Peter always worked late for buying and selling ships. And I picked him up and dropped him off at airport and took him to places. Years ago, Peter, Tina and family moved to Spain. My father and I went to visit. We stayed in Peter’s beautiful villa and everyone had a very good time there. When Peter and family moved to Australia, my parents visited them again in Australia. Originally, I planned to go along as well. Peter bought a SUV and waited for us to come. Because of my new job, I was unable to take time off. I missed my chance to meet up with my brother-in-law in Australia. And, the chance will never come again.

We walked back and forth on Brooklyn Bridge, drank tea with milk in a large mug, beer and brandy, ate steak with wine, played pool and dart board, watched TV, discussed about anything and site seeing in New York City and in Spain. The list can go on and on.

During this sad moment, family members including myself in New York would really, really like to come to Peter’s funeral. We are so sorry that the distance and the timing made it impossible for us to present. Please accept our deepest condolences and our hearts are with you in this time of sorrow. Hold tight to your memories, and let them guide you through during this time of sadness.

Good bye to Captain Peter Bruce!

You are always in our hearts.

From niece Anna (Shirley's daughter)

Uncle Peter always saw potential in everyone and encouraged them to follow their dreams and I will always remember that about him.

Goodbye and love you always uncle Peter

From Elise Chiu (His Niece on wife’s side)

I spent time with Uncle Peter in Las Vegas for Tony's wedding, he arrived in the morning before me, my sister and Andy did and he had already been at the blackjack table a few hours at that point and was up quite a bit. He treated the 3 of us to a great sake filled sushi lunch and he told us the story about how the first time he went to Asia and he saw women smaller than him he knew he was going to end up marrying one.

I am glad he did as he became part of our family and even though we didn't have a chance to see much of each other, the little time we did spend together especially as adults was much appreciated and I personally got to know him better to find out what a great and big person he was.

Elise

From Jeff Marr (Old and dear friend)

Peter was and will always be my greatest friend, a friendship which has endured for over 30 years. In business he was a visonary, a perfectionist, modest, generous, sometimes overly and a professional in every sense and outside of business he enjoyed a wonderful family life. Having come ashore in 1978 and settled in Taipei I’m not sure that Tina expected the following decade and beyond to be as hectic as it was! During the early 80’s he pioneered a way of buying ships for his clients that had never been seen before. Casualties from the Iraq/Iran war or ships that were virtually being abandoned as the oil markets plummeted had to be disposed of and invariably Peter was at the heart of many sales during this period. Peter was always in his element dealing ‘hands on’ which inevitably meant more and more time away, so the move to San Pedro in Spain was a logical one at the time. The move led to us seeing more of each other and as our friendship grew so did the amount of business conducted between us. There was the obligatory travel involved again from which one can recount many tales.

My earliest recollection of Peter’s generosity was after he had concluded one his first deals and came to London. Five of us were whisked off to a private dining room at the Grosvenor Hotel where we enjoyed the most sumptuous dinner and finest wines. Although we had earned our commission from the sellers of the ships on the sales he wanted to thank us personally for the support and belief that we had in him and from that day on our friendship blossomed.

We travelled together a lot and some of my fondest memories are of when we were on ships together. One summer, I think it was in 1985, we negotiated two large oil tankers which were in Jebel Ali in the UAE. The ships were owned in nearby Abu Dhabi and prior to concluding a sale the owners asked that we inspect them and then meet to finalise a deal. We hastily arranged an overnight flight to Dubai and then drove for what seemed like hours along the coast road with nothing but the desert surrounding us until we reached the ships. The temperature in the shade was 45 degrees Celcius; there was no air conditioning or lighting on the ships but Peter completed his task with his usual proficiency and satisifed himself that the ships could be reactivated. The next morning we visted the owners office with the intention of finalising the purchase but were told that there was now competition. Peter could not persuade his clients to improve their price and we lost the business for about $ 15,000 on a $ 5,000,000 deal, basically peanuts.

It was his birthday that day and in his usual pragmatic style he simply accepted the outcome, not showing any of the visible signs of anger which I was. He took me and my co-broker to dinner to celebrate his birthday. What an evening that turned out to be. We had an amazing meal, our co-broker retired early and we were approached by a local who was dining there alone. After a few drinks he suggested we move on to a club. He said he was an official at the Department of Irrigation, was very immaculately dressed and had expensive taste as evidenced by an enormous diamond encrusted watch and his huge Mercedes. I was the unfortunate one in the front seat, as soon after we left his free hand started roaming to say the least. Peter, in the back seat, thought it was hilarious as I had to fend of this guy for the next half hour or so as we drove deeper into the desert. We ended up in the middle of nowhere. The so called club seemed to be no more than an empty container with a few tables and tea-drinking locals which was our cue to make a quick getaway!

On another occasion we were in Athens and had arranged a very important meeting with a major ship owner on the following Monday morning. We had the weekend to oursleves and decided to visit some of my friends on one of the nearby islands. Peter stayed on board an old naval training ship owned by an Australian whilst I stayed at my friends

Our ferry was booked for 9 am on the Monday and we would be in Athens for our meeting at 11 o’clock. Except …. Peter had no alarm clock, it was pitch black below deck and there was no noise at all on board. He finally surfaced at around midday and we arrived in Athens at around 3 pm. The ship owner was less than pleased with our time keeping but Peter’s professional attitude, attention to detail and likeability endeared him to the client and we managed to form a joint venture with him that very day.

We all have our individual memories and there will be so many, as I cannot recall anyone in business or people we met socially who have ever said anything derogatory or negative about Peter and I am sure that sentiment will be echoed by all others who know you. Quite simply you were just the nicest guy and the best friend any person could have hoped for. You supported and guided me throughout tough times for which I will be ever grateful.

You may now be on the final voyage but for me your ship will always be on my horizon. I will miss you, my friend.

Jeff

From Martyn Brown (Old Friend)

1983 - In the normal course of his business, Peter was purchasing and delivering ships from Europe to Taiwanese Scrap Buyers on a regular basis. He was entirely responsible for all aspects of this activity and as an example of Peter’s humanitarian nature, the following incident comes to mind;

During the late seventies and early eighties the human catastrophe of the Vietnamese Boat People was endemic in the region. It was common knowledge that some unscrupulous ship owners at that time, gave standing orders to their ship Captain’s to “turn a blind eye” to the plight of these people, thereby consigning them to certain death in many cases.

It was during this period that Peter received a rather apologetic call from his own ship Captain, who undertook many of these delivery voyages, to inform him that they had rescued refugees from a sinking boat.

These scrap-delivery voyages by their very nature, were conducted with the minimal amount of fuel and stores remaining on board. Notwithstanding, the crew donated clothing and food and vacated their cabins to facilitate the refugees. It had been calculated by Peter and the Captain that the vessel could still continue on to Taiwan, as originally planned and just about make it, without too much inconvenience to all concerned.

However, as always, politics got in the way of Peter’s best intentions. The Taiwanese Government duly informed Peter that the ship would be refused entry, given the presence on board of the Vietnamese Boat People. Peter being Peter, simply and justifiably ignored the stance taken, until ultimately the Taiwanese Government sent out a gun-boat, to better focus Peter’s attention.

Given the limited fuel & provisions remaining on board, Peter informed me that he would divert the ship to Hong Kong, to both safely disembark the refugees and to refuel and re provision the vessel, in order to continue on to Taiwan. This decision was costly in monetary terms for Peter and his principals, but in his opinion nothing else could be done, given the unfortunate circumstances. However, global politics still played a part, in that, the British Government and the Governor’s office in Hong Kong issued a similar warning to Peter, that a deviation to Hong Kong was not possible.

During this period of time Peter’s base of operation was conducted from an office in Gibraltar and he often registered ownership of his vessels for the “delivery voyages” in the British Territory of Gibraltar and proudly flew the Red Ensign Flag on his vessels. Peter’s reply was that; surely Hong Kong, being a British Territory, at that time, could not under any circumstances refuse entry to a British Ship in such circumstances and furthermore, politically, they could not refuse to handle the plight of the refugees. There followed a series of lengthy exchanges, including ultimately the involvement of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the Governor of Gibraltar and a threat of legal repercussions.

Peter on this issue, simply stood firm in his conviction and the task of disembarking the refugees and safely delivering the vessel to his clients in Taiwan, was finally achieved.

1986 - Peter ultimately employed me as his assistant, working from his home office in Southern Spain. Travelling on behalf of Peter’s business, stemmed from many weird and wonderful conversations that would often take place between us, such as;

“I have just bought a vessel which will be towed to Taiwan in about six weeks’ time. It’s at anchorage in Southern Chile, I hear the local mafia is stealing all the non-ferrous metals, I want you to go down there and sort it out.”

We both knew the task was next to impossible, but this was Peter’s way of getting me out of the office on many occasions and added greatly to my experience of the shipping industry.

1997 – Peter after having progressed from Southern Spain to Australia, via Hong Kong in the late 1980’s returned to Gibraltar for a brief spell, to take up a post as Gibraltar Marine Surveyor. Many escapades ensued during this time, too many to recount for this moment in time, but more than anything, I was grateful to be able to renew our acquaintance.

Martyn Brown, Gibraltar, 2 January 2014.

a small sample of emails from work colleagues and business partners

Marcel van der Wiele

With great sadness heard about the passing away of Peter. A great shock to us all.

I met him few years ago in Australia where we shared an apartment for a couple of days at Adelaide. We had a lot of fun and he made my first trip to Australia an experience I will not forget. I am happy I had the privilege to have known him and have worked with him. In the years after that my boss Paul visited Australia several times and got quite close to Peter.

We will miss him

Capt. Michel Lagesse

It is truly with sadness that I hear of the passing away of Peter.

Please accept our deepest condolences in the loss of your father and trust that you and your family will grieve peacefully, yet remain strong during this sad period.

Over the last few years, whenever Peter was due to come to Fremantle or was already in Fremantle, for surveying purposes, he would always call me to see if we could “catch up for a chat and beer”. Depending on my work commitments, I’d make every effort to be there, as I really enjoyed his company. Peter and I had that “chat and beer (or two)”, only a few weeks ago and we shared a few good stories together.

I will miss his laughter and companionship.

 

Siddharth

This is truly shocking! I have truly fond memories of the two occasions we spent together in Singapore. Jovial and fun guy to know.

CIS has indeed lost a good partner in the region. Do convey our condolences to his family and we pray for his soul to rest in peace.

Robert Rantino

I am shocked to hear this. This is terrible news. My thoughts are with his family.

I have great memories of working with Peter. He was a great person to work with and I thoroughly enjoyed dealing with him.

May he rest in peace

Peter Bosman

It was a great shock to hear of the passing of Peter, who has been a fine colleague to work with since he arrived in the Melbourne region to work as a Surveyor. His happy disposition, and some shared interests in the world of ballet, always made it a pleasure to catch up with him when we met as "opponents" on joint surveys.

He was a fine man, and will leave a large gap of expertise in the local Maritime scene.

Please accept and pass on my sincere condolences to the members of his family.

John Holden

On behalf of the AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Surveyors) Executive Team and all members, I would like to extend condolences to your family at the passing of Peter – as a long-standing member he will be fondly remembered and missed by all those who knew and worked with him. Peter’s good humour and warm company has blessed all who have spent some time with this fine man!

Percy Khadiwala

I was shocked to know of the sudden demise of my friend and colleague Peter Bruce whom I have known since he started his business in Geelong. It was our ritual, whenever we conducted a joint Survey in Geelong, we had a couple of Beers and Lunch at a pub in Geelong or in Hoppers Crossing and discussed old times with a lot of laughter and good stories. Peter was kind, helpful, full of fun and enjoyed a joke no matter what the situation was.

Peter was a good friend and we will miss him. I am truly sorry for your loss and please convey my sincere condolences to your mother.

Slide show.

We put this slide show together for the wake.
The pdf is here
The PowerPoint is here and one with more images is here.

My Father Passed Away

On the 27th December my father passed away peacefully in his sleep.

His funeral was be held at Rookwood Cemetery at 11am on Monday 6th Jan, 2014.
The wake to took place at 12pm at the Carnarvan Golf Club. straight afterwards.

I have created this blog in order to share with family and friends around the world. We'll always love and miss you dad.