Kathaleen and David Bruce

Jeremy Bruce graduated from Jamestown High School, Jamestown, NY, in 2002. He attended MCCC prior to enlisting for the U.S. Marine Corps. After his military discharge, he attended the University of Toledo and then transferred to the University of Colorado, graduating in 2015 with a BA in Political Science. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2004-2008 and was deployed twice to Iraq and fought in the battle of Fallujah. Jeremy was wounded in action during both deployments. One of the injuries he sustained was a traumatic brain injury from an IED. It was during his first deployment that Jeremy prevented a potentially tragic friendly fire incident, for which he was awarded a citation.

While attending U of C, Jeremy became active in politics to include involvement with Ben Carson’s presidential campaign. After Jeremy graduated, he became a student of the world. He traveled extensively, seeking out and always taking “the one less travelled by” ( The road not taken, by Robert Frost), trying to learn about the people, their history and the culture of every country and region he travelled to. Some of his travels included India, the Philippines, Viet Nam, Thailand, Africa, the Caribbean, and throughout Europe. Jeremy loved children. Wherever he travelled, he would often hand out treats to the children. While traveling in Africa, Jeremy became involved with opening an orphanages. Jeremy often commented that he was always amazed that the people with the least were most often the most generous and kind people he met.

Jeremy recognized the importance of higher education. Jeremy also understood the importance of education through life experience and travel. Jeremy comes from a family with a long and proud history of not only Military, but also community service vocations. His parents were career military, serving a combined nearly 36 years of service. In addition, Jeremy’s brother, grandfathers, aunt, and uncles served in the military. He especially looked up to his grandfather, Jay Finley, who served in the USMC in the battle of Iwo Jima. Jeremy’s family includes a minister, social workers, teachers and those in the medical community.

Jeremy was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer in May, 2018. At that time, he was given 6-12 months to live. After a fierce battle and giving it everything he had , Jeremy passed away on September 29, 2019, at the age of 35. We understand his cancer was likely due to his exposure to the burn pits while serving in Iraq.