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From the Grand Rapids Herald-Review Jan. 7, 2022:
Bruce Cameron Hastie died Dec. 30, 2021 in Deer River.
Bruce was born to Olivia Kendrick Hastie and Reid William Hastie in St. Paul, Minnesota on Dec. 18, 1949. Reid was a professor of Art at the University of Minnesota. Bruce’s mother Olivia was a high school teacher and the most important person in his life. Growing up, she instilled in him a love for learning and pride in work.
Bruce moved to Deer River in 1971. Coming into an area where he was an unknown, he built a business that was respected by his clients and other craftsmen. Besides working around Deer River, he also worked for the DNR, renovating buildings across the state. Bruce learned carpentry from older carpenters in the area, as well as self-study and learning by doing. Bruce was meticulous in his work, and generous in sharing his skills, teaching other carpenters.
At first, he built a house in the woods and worked in a local lumber yard. In the winters he often skied in, pulling a toboggan with supplies. He would come home after work and read by oil lamp light. Bruce and his first wife Lis had two sons while living in the house in the woods, and a third son after moving to a farmhouse close to Deer River. Bruce renovated the farmhouse, running his construction business from his shop on the property. The sons, Cyrus, Alex, and Quinn, went on to marry and establish families of their own across the country. Bruce was very proud of them for their individuality and their independence.
Later in life, Bruce met and fell in love with his current wife Cindy. Together they spent time traveling to areas of the state neither had seen, listening to Twins games, watching the Vikings, visiting with friends, rekindling his love for reading, and sitting on the deck listening to ‘oldie’ rock and roll. Bruce loved music, especially Dylan who he first saw in concert in 1964, when Bruce was 15 and Dylan was 21. He and Cindy attended Dylan’s last concert in Duluth in 2013.
Drive down any street in Deer River and you will see houses and businesses that Bruce touched with his carpentry and construction skills. He was proud of having contributed to the community and will be missed by many. Bruce is survived by his wife Cindy, his sons Cyrus (Lisa), Alex (Nancy), and Quinn (Jess), grandchildren Owen, Beck, Isabella, and Eli Hastie, brother Reid Hastie, cousins Carol and Barry McHale, and ex-wife Lis Dilley.
As per Bruce’s wishes, following cremation no services will be held.
Arrangements by Carroll Funeral Home, Deer River & Bigfork, Minnesota. https://www.grandrapidsmn.com/free_press/bruce-cameron-hastie-1949-2022/article_f4c35ba8-6fe0-11ec-8622-af2913c892d1.html
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Bunny Hudak (Moore)
About Bruce…
Bruce’s locker was near mine in high school and we often chatted, briefly. He was a jock – wrestler, and popular. But I always saw his quiet, warm and friendly side when we talked.
I was very sad to hear of his death.
I called Bruce in 2017 hoping he would attend our 50th High School Reunion. I hadn’t talked to him since we graduated. It was such a nice visit – a three-hour conversation ! The obit in the Grand Rapids paper was beautifully written and captures the essence of Bruce.
I thought I might add some tidbits of what he shared with me about his parents, his life and his family.
Bruce’s father died at the time of our 20 year and Bruce was in Texas helping his Mom at the time of our reunion. His father was Art Professor at the U of M and in the 70’s accepted a job at Texas Tech. Some of his artwork is displayed at the Minneapolis Art Institute.
Bruce’s mother grew up in West Virginia. She loved the outdoors. Her parents were founders & directors of a 4-H Club Youth Camp. Most of her younger years were spent outdoors and on horseback. She probably had a great influence on Bruce’s love of the outdoors and nature.
Bruce was a UES alum. The public grade school in St. Anthony was being renovated and held classes only half days. His brother Reid wanted to go to school all day, so his parents enrolled him at UES. They enrolled Bruce at UES too, so he would be there full days, as they each worked full-time.
In our senior year of high school, he went with Jayne Rank, Ellen Rank’s sister, a year younger. He and Tom Utne were college roommates. He also connected with Harroll Harris on and off after high school. He spoke very warmly about Bonnie Warner. They had a special friendship throughout high school and kept in contact periodically until she died.
Reading was always a favorite pastime. He didn’t watch much TV or know how to use a computer but he loved to read. He said he reads everything but Romance. With no library in Deer River, he made weekly trips to the Grand Rapids library.
He was married to his first wife, Lis, for about 35 years. His second wife, Cindy, was a nurse for 40 years, and has since retired. They married about 2014.
He talked about learning carpentry and doing construction as a career in Deer River. He mentioned there is plenty of work building lake homes with 1,000 of the 10,000 lakes being in Itasca County. He worked either alone or with 3 or 4 others with the max being six employees. But he didn’t elaborate about his skill and craftmanship or how successful he was. He is very humble.
I could hear what a very proud father Bruce was as he talked about his boys. They have varied careers and have lived in various parts of the country – and world.
Cyrus works for a bank in Woodbury.
Alex is microbiologist, researcher – scientist. A genomics professional. He works for Bionano Genomics, Inc. in San Diego.
Quinn is the youngest. He was also the most athletic of his sons. Played basketball, football, baseball. At Bemidji State he set a Conference Javelin record in track. Bruce really had fun watching him participate in sports. Quinn has mostly been involved in retail management positions at Nordstrom. He currently works for an online Wellness Shopping Club Company as an independent contractor in Seattle, Washington.
Venturing much outside of the Deer River area into big cities was quite distasteful to Bruce. I encouraged him to come to our 50th reunion and he at least said he would consider it, but the likelihood was minimal. The second and last time I talked with him, he told me he wasn’t going to make the drive down for the reunion. I was disappointed but I hoped that perhaps sometime in the future – we might get a chance to visit him and his wife in Deer River. We have friends in Big Fork just half hour away.
Time ran out.