Bruce Wagner

Written by Bruce's granddaughter, Nichole Wagner

Bruce Leonard Wagner was born Friday, October 7, 1927 to Noah Leonard Wagner and Esther Ann Adams in Grand Rapids, MI. A quick history lesson; that was the year Charles Lindbergh made a solo flight from Long Island to Paris, France. The Yankees completed a four game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run, a record that would stand for 34 years. Ford revealed the Model A, and the world population reached two billion.

Grandpa was the only child of Noah and Esther, but he had two half brothers, Jim and Henry, and two half sisters, Carol and Ann Marie. Unfortunately, Ann Marie passed away around the age of four or five due to throat cancer; he didn’t have much contact with Henry and Jim moved to Atlanta.

Grandpa grew up in Burton Heights during the Great Depression, living with his mom and then his Grandparents from 1931 to 1935. He went to first grade at St. Mary’s and attended Burton School from 2nd to 4th grade, attending kindergarten and first grade twice because the new school didn’t acknowledge the transfer. He amazingly recalled the address of his Grandparents’ home, 2146 Stafford S.W. That was the funny thing about Grandpa; he was a wealth of random knowledge. He had the mind of a steel trap.

One of Grandpa’s earliest memories was riding his toy, a horse on wheels, when he was 2 or 3 years old. He remembered the baskets of chocolate at Easter and the family gatherings on the holidays. He also said there weren’t many cars or phones either, certainly no TVs. He recalled only having two meals a day, soda crackers and milk for three weeks at one point, and he remembers working on a farm with his Uncle Bob and Aunt Ida. They moved into the city and worked at Wolverine Brass, holding factory jobs for the war effort.

His dad remarried and had an apartment on Madison, south of Hall Street. He laughed telling a story of when he and Jim played under the table while their dad played cards. Jim and Grandpa would sneak shots of whiskey. After that, he lived on Sheldon between Wealthy and Fulton Street, in Niles, South Haven, and then Byron Center, all before the 6th grade. His dad built police department buildings and worked in many areas of the state. Maybe that’s where he discovered his love for travel.

Later, Grandpa lived in Battle Creek on a lake. He recalled playing on his neighbors’ ice boats. They had a field with railroad tracks and rows upon rows of pine trees. Watching him, I think he could still hear the wind whistling through the pines. He said they weren’t allowed to play outside long because there was a murderer on the loose; it sounded like a TV show. From there, he moved to Ionia Street, north of Franklin above a mom & pop market. He showed me a scar and said, “I got this from playing hide-n-seek, and I nailed the gate covering the incinerator. Man that peroxide and mercuricome stung!”

Grandpa graduated from South High, now Central High, in 1945 when he was 17 years old. Recalling high school, he carried 5 or 6 classes a semester, and received a math award; Best in Class of over 200 students. He went to JC College for one semester and then joined the U.S. Army. Grandpa enlisted on February 6, 1946 at Fort Sheridan, IL, a little north of Chicago. I asked him why he joined. It was simple, “WWII started August 14, 1945, and it just seemed like the thing to do. It was either sign or be drafted. If I were drafted, I would have no termination date; it was the duration of the war plus 6 months. Instead, I signed up for three years.”

Grandpa was a Staff Sergeant in the Corp. of Engineers out of Fort Belvoir, VA. He said the night they shipped out to Virginia, it dumped over two feet of snow and he remembers being bundled up in heavy uniforms. In West Virginia, near Harpers Ferry, the train engine broke down and they were stranded for six hours until a new engine could come. Grandpa trained boot camp platoons, running the new enlistees around the drill fields and marching up to 20-30 miles occasionally.

About 2-3 years in, when Grandpa was visiting D.C., he ran into an old buddy from school. He loaned Grandpa ten dollars and he never paid him back. Grandpa did say “45 years at 6+% interest; I’m in trouble,” and laughed. Somewhere in this mix Grandpa met Grandma through a mutual friend on the Westminister Presbyterian Church balcony. It was Christmas 1947. I’m pretty sure it was love at first sight. Although Grandpa never said it out loud the twinkle in his eye gave it away. They dated via the postal service for all of two months and they didn’t get a chance to see each other until furlough. Grandpa proposed on the street after a date night movie which cost 10 cents. They were married on August 20, 1948 at Klaise Chapel in Grand Rapids. I asked Grandpa what made him fall in love with Grandma. He said, “Her sense of humor. She is a remarkable gal in many ways. Many ups and a few downs, but more ups than downs. I still love her a lot.” He had a cute boyish grin on his face when he was talking about it.

Something I thought was really interesting; Grandpa and Grandma’s best man and maid of honor met each other at their rehearsal dinner. Tony and Doreen Lammers were married a little over a month after Grandpa and Grandma, and they have stayed friends all this time.

Grandpa was honorably discharged almost three years to the day of enlisting; February 5, 1949. The Korean War started June 20, 1950. He thought about attending Officer Candidate School, but never followed through. Instead he enrolled in JC and then Western University. Grandpa enjoyed the Social Sciences and Government. He graduated with a Bachelors of Arts degree in 1953, with minors in English, Math and Science. He began his teaching career in 1954 at Ottawa Hills School and remained there for over 31 years. He taught History, Government and Economics. The summer of 1954, he earned a Master’s degree in Political Science, Economics and History. Thanks to the WWII GI Bill, most of his education was paid for, except the $50 book fee for his Master’s degree. This must be where his love for reading paid off.

And then there were children. Grandma first found out that she was pregnant when Grandpa was still in the Army. She was sick from day one. Gary Bruce Wagner was born 3 weeks late, on July 3, 1949. Gail Jo Wagner was born January 26, 1951. Gregory Alan Wagner was born March 19, 1952, and the baby, Kevin James Wagner was born July 19, 1958. We shared some laughs over remembering their childhoods. He said Gary was full of laughter and was very smart. He cut off his stitches at one point, and he liked wrestling. Gail loved dance class and piano, but she was very stubborn. She could hold her own against boys, and thus started crying when Kevin was born. Greg took his time learning to talk. They thought he needed hearing aids, but he just chose not to speak. He was big into sports and track. Kevin was spoiled rotten being the baby of the family. He was defiant and liked to cause trouble, but he was still a good kid. Having young children was a very stressful time. Grandpa was worried about having enough to support and feed the family. Grandma picked up a waitressing job at Chicken Charlies in Kalamazoo. Then she stayed home with the kids until the youngest one was in school, and then was hired as a bank teller. When I asked about life after kids, his only reply was “peaceful.” He said they never got empty-nest syndrome, because someone was always coming home.

When Kevin was around 3 years old, the travel adventures started. Grandpa loved to travel and he loved to talk about traveling. He would talk to other travelers; anyone who would listen really. Several times he had found a former student while looking or walking. He collected stacks and stacks of National Geographic magazines. Some of the places Grandpa and Grandma traveled were the Wisconsin Dells, the U.P., Mackinaw, Niagara Falls, Myrtle Beach, San Francisco, New Orleans and many more attractions out West. They traveled to 48 states total. I asked what his fondest memories were, and he jokingly replied “our honeymoon.” They stayed in his parents’ cabin in White Cloud on Robinson Lake. His parents forgot the sheets for the bed and later showed up, staying way too long. Grandma and Grandpa both laughed.

And now I’ll skip ahead a few years to grandkids and great grandkids galore. Gail’s daughter, Che Angela. Greg’s children, Neil and Ashley. Kevin’s children Jen, Nichole, Jeff, Stephanie and Stevie-Lynn and great-grandkids Caleb, Cameron, Sophia, Madeleine, Evelynn, Keagan, and Rina. Gary’s daughters Katte and Karre; although they missed out on so many of their growing up years. All of them the pride and joy of Grandpa and Grandma Wagner.

I asked Grandma how she would describe Grandpa, “Intelligent, historical, always a teacher and loves to share knowledge, loving, helpful and quiet.” I asked Grandpa the same of Grandma, “The love of my life, patient sometimes, intelligent, a good cook, fun and loving.” I asked him what their key was to 64 years of marriage, “Stick with it, talk a lot, learn to live with it, and be willing to bend; together forever”. What was one regret, “I hated not paying attention to my kids and leaving it to Grandma to raise them almost alone.” What is a moment in time you will never forget, “Getting married to gram.” I almost cried when he said it, such a love struck old man.

I want to take a moment to remember some of the things I think about when I think of Gramps. He called me scheezicks (schk-eee-zhicks) and Nick. He had a great sense of humor; so great in fact, he would tell a joke and I wouldn’t understand it but he would laugh so hard and I would just laugh with him. He was the smartest man I knew, it was amazing watching Jeopardy with him. He rarely raised his voice, but when he did, you knew you were in trouble. I remember riding in the back of the blue station wagon growing up, back before seatbelts were required. He never wanted help, but was so appreciative when I made him accept it, meaning I just did it anyway. Having lived with Gramps and Grams the last year and a half, I really learned to appreciate what it takes to make it work, what patience really means, and what true love really is. It would make me laugh when Grandma was giving him a hard time about something and he would look at me and roll his eyes. We would smile and sometimes laugh quietly together.

I struggle with wrapping this up because there is just so much to share. He led such an amazing life, raising an amazing family. I started interviewing Grandpa periodically over the last two years, making notes here or there when I wanted to remember something. As I would talk to him, I was so amazed at his ability to recollect his life experiences. It was so weird to me knowing one day I would have to actually write all of this down, but he would answer all my questions and sometime divulge extra details. I feel so honored to have had the chance to care for him, learn about him, and that I can share it with you. I don’t know how to conclude this except for a quote I found. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal” ~From a headstone in Ireland.