Bruce Alan Petty, 77, of Stillwater, Okla., passed away on Saturday, August 21,
2021. A graveside service will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday,
September 11, 2021, at Fairlawn Cemetery in Stillwater. Due to COVID
concerns, the family gratefully requests that attendees wear masks
during the service. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of
the arrangements.
Bruce was born January 27, 1944, in Great Bend, Kansas, to Wava M. and
Eldon R. Petty. He grew up in Hays, Kansas, where he met Bonnie Clair
Brandenburg. They wed in 1966, and were happily married for 55 years. He
taught high school art in Kansas prior to receiving a PhD. from Kansas
State University.
After serving on the faculty of the University of Kentucky College of
Education in the 1970s (where he was named a Kentucky Colonel by the
governor), he and his family moved to Stillwater in 1978 where he served
as the Director of the Center for Educational Technology and Professor
of Curriculum and Instructional Design for 28 years. He was inducted
into the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame in 2012.
He loved a good round of golf with his friends, and played as often as
he was able. He was also a big fan of OSU Cowboy football and the OSU
Cowgirls basketball team. He enjoyed volunteering at the Habitat for
Humanity ReStore, refinishing furniture, restoring antique radios, and
helped to start the Stillwater Antique and Classic Car Club, with whom
he restored a 1966 Mustang and a 1971 Cutlass convertible. He told great
jokes, sang with the SUAVE performing group, and enjoyed reading
science fiction.
Mostly, though, he loved spending time with his family. He was a devoted
husband and father, and never missed a chance to tell his two children
how proud he was of them, and how happy he was with who they turned out
to be. He supported Bonnie in her career and delighted in watching his
family grow and succeed.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Melissa Lindhorst, who passed away in June 2021.
He is survived by his wife, Bonnie, of Stillwater, his son Brian (Chris
Leedy), of Atlanta, his grandson Samuel Leedy Alonzo, of Shelby, Ohio,
and his son-in-law Richard Lindhorst, of Stillwater.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages friends to hug their families,
tell a joke to a stranger in line at the grocery store, and make
donations in his name to Habitat for Humanity.
Condolences may be sent to the family and an online obituary viewed by visiting www.strodefh.com.