Biographie
Août 30, 1941
Born in Winchendon, Massachusetts on August 30, 1941.
Octobre 25, 2007
Passed away on October 25, 2007.
Novembre 16, 2007
Part III - Eulogy
"The Colonel" had two regrets that he shared with me about his own life. The first was that for a period he let the deceit of riches and the prestige of his new career in the mortgage business damage his relationship with his family. He was finally making a great deal of money and he allowed money and position to control him for awhile. He regretted this very much.
The second was his habit of smoking cigarettes. He told me in 2006 he wished he had never smoked the "darn things". OK congregation, you know "darn" well that Bruce never said "darn things" but we are in a church house and in deference to the pastor and to others of you here I will not say what Bruce actually said about cigarettes.
I learned more from this man than probably any human being on earth besides my own parents. He will be missed greatly by all of us who knew and loved him. But, we treasure that he was part of our lives and whose memory we will never forget. He was my very good friend and I miss him very much. The Colonel had a collage in his office of young soldiers in his command some whom were killed in Vietnam and he would point to a soldier and say sadly, "21 forever......or 19 forever". Is Bruce going to be 66 forever? No, he won't because he changed the lives of so many of us. So many of us do more for our fellow man and are better people because Bruce came into our lives and we witnessed him in action. In that respect, he lives on......
Bruce, please save a seat the next table over from you and your family at the Wedding Supper of the Lamb that is written in Revelation Chapter 19! I will see you soon enough my good friend. His loving wife Belle tells me that Bruce was actually smiling as he was passing on from this life to the next. Of course he was. I think at that moment when Belle saw him smiling, Jesus was saying to him "well done my good and faithful servant. Please come in and receive your reward..." (Matthew 25:21)
Novembre 16, 2007
Part II - Eulogy
In Matthew Chapter 6 it is written; "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward in heaven. ....but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Six months before leaving San Antonio to return to Hawaii, he turned over his business to a young loan officer, Patricia Kosmalski, and helped her build her business on his database and his contacts before he left. He was a mentor to this young lady even after he moved back to Hawaii helping her with her journal. Patricia referred to Bruce affectionately as "The Colonel". So we all followed her lead and Bruce became "The Colonel" to all of us. He was a mentor to many other people (some with other companies like Jodi and Pete with Alamo Title, Brenda with Efram Law Firm, Jill with the Ali Group and others...one person who shall remain nameless due to a struggle with alcoholism whom Bruce ministered to in the building at 10010 San Pedro, a building that was in mourning last week.
In Mark Chapter 10 it is written "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these",....And Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. I especially like to remember what Bruce said to the operations staff when he left work for the day "ladies, thank you for all of your hard work today".....and immediately after that, "I'm going home, I've got a date with a married lady"... Belle how he loved you! I have borrowed his words and will continue to use them in memory of Bruce. Bruce loved a glass of Merlot with a meal. I too now order a glass of Merlot (not a Cab or a Pinot) but a Merlot in part because I feel he is enjoying the meal with me once again. He wore some beautiful Hawaiian gold (real gold) cufflinks when we held seminars outside of the office. I copied him by wearing my gold (gold plated) cufflinks. Agents remember us later as the "guys who wore the cufflinks".
Not long after 9-11 (maybe a year or so) the Bush Administration gave a $400.00 allotment to taxpayers earning a particular income or less. I didn't like our country doing this when we were so close to a balanced budget. Bruce pointed to a receptionist, a single mother with children who worked with us and said "Jack, $400.00 would do so much for her...." Typical Bruce. I was thinking about the state of the economy and he was thinking about an individual in need. He and I liked to visit early in the morning. We were almost always at the office before 7:00 am. He was firm in the advice he gave me, a workaholic who put in 75 hours a week most weeks. He said "Jack, you are working too much you need to go be with your family." He was after me about this constantly. Bruce begged me to go home earlier and I have followed his advice. Thank you Colonel.
Novembre 16, 2007
Part I - Eulogy
Delivered by Jack Shull,
Bruce's dear friend and business partner,
from San Antonio, TX
Bruce Anthony Bourgault will forever have the dates of August 30, 1941 - October 25, 2007 beside his name. The story, the incredible story is the dash in the middle of the two dates. And, what a dash it was. What a life he led! A loving son, a loving husband, a loving father who was so proud of his daughters and his son, his children's spouses, his grandchildren and he was my friend.
When he was barely out of his teens, he was a standout student at the top prep school in Seattle, Washington and was also the head chef at a swanky Seattle restaurant. Bruce took a huge cut in pay when he left the restaurant and joined the military. A few years later he led a battalion and a few years after leading the battalion he led a division while he was an officer in the Army during the Vietnam conflict. Affectionately known by his fellow soldiers as "Colonel B," he retired from the Army in the early 1984 planning to pretty much play golf for the rest of his life.
Very soon he became bored and decided upon a career in mortgage banking. He was successful, first in Hawaii for a number of years and then later in San Antonio, Texas where he married his second wife Linda or "Belle" as we affectionately know her. He remained in San Antonio for about seven years before moving back to Hawaii.
He was a man's man, a fine gentleman, and an unabashed follower of Christ who knew how to love people and they loved him back. Bruce Bourgault came into my life in the early spring of 2001 when I was recruiting for a Sales Manager to take over one of my satellite offices. Little did I know at the time that I would learn so much more from Bruce than he ever would from me.
Did you know that on every Memorial Day during the years Bruce lived in San Antonio that he would take six cans of beer to six different graves of soldiers buried at Ft. Sam Houston cemetery? These were the graves of men who died in battle and whom he had commanded. He probably did the same thing over here at Punchbowl Cemetery as one of you may tell me later after this service. Bruce often gave a young Jr. Loan Processor money to help her family out when they desperately needed it. I only learned of this recently. Bruce often performed kind deeds without fanfare.
2008
