Bruce Christie

Bruce K. Christie lived life large, from his love of family and robust spirit to his enterprising ways and community service. By the tone of his voice, others knew where they stood with him. Yet, the compassion he showed let them know he was a softy at heart. Bruce cared deeply for his wife, children and grandchildren and spending time with them was the joy of his life. Nothing pleased him more than hearing his grandkids call him 'Papa.' Bruce Kenneth was born July 8, 1957 in Rochester, Minnesota at the height of the post-war baby boom era. The advent of television enabled Americans to view the world from the comfort of their living rooms and mainframe computers were revolutionizing society. Bruce was the big boy of the Donald and Shirley (Chambard) Christie family and close in age to his sisters Dawn and Sheri. It was a busy home with three children under the age of three, and Bruce and Dawn provided amusement from an early age. One time, their mother heard giggling coming from the other room only to find Bruce in the crib at a month old with Dawn on his back playing 'horsee' with Sheri peering through the bars. Bruce and Dawn also attempted to convince Sheri that she could fly to the bottom of the stairs......it was a crash landing.Bruce made his father proud hiking the Whitewater River banks to pull in the 'big one'......an 8-pound trout. In his teen years, Bruce gained notoriety as a tough and daring kid. He and his friend Brian made up "B & B" business cards and made sales to customers by driving to Wisconsin to buy alcohol. Interestingly, as he matured Bruce also took an interest in domestic life. When he was suspended from high school for smoking, he stayed home and cleaned the kitchen ceilings for his mom. She was impressed, but then asked why he didn't keep going and clean the rest of the house. Bruce took a home economics class in high school, perhaps because he was already curious about food preparation but quite likely because he could be in class with a lot of girls. In time, one girl, Sue Sanders, became the focus of Bruce's attention. Sue was a majorette in the high school band with Bruce's sister Dawn. She often asked Dawn about Bruce, and at a high school dance Bruce made his interests known to Sue. A friend told Sue that both Bruce Christie and Dan B. wanted to ask her out. As it happened, Bruce got to her first and the two began dating. Early in their relationship, Bruce let Sue behind the wheel of his old Rambler. As they were driving in the countryside, Sue missed a turn and ended up in a field. Bruce told her to keep driving so as to get back on the road. Instead, Sue got out and made Bruce drive. That was just one of many laughs they would share as they made a lifelong commitment in marriage on August 4, 1979. As a new bride, Sue was determined to cook food her husband liked, but Bruce would say, "It's good, but it's not like Mom's." That did not go over well, of course, and Sue told him (possibly using harsh language), "If you want your mom's cooking, go move back home then." Instead, Bruce took to cooking and by the time children were part of the family, he was in his element making Hamburger Helper (spaghetti/lasagna) or Spam and a great chili recipe. In his work life, Bruce had begun driving truck for Nessler Grain after graduating from St. Charles High School in 1975. He and Sue moved to Texas when he took a job in the oil fields, but after a year, they returned home to be near family. Bruce then worked for North Star Foods in St. Charles, first driving truck and eventually taking charge of the purchasing department until 2009 when the business was destroyed by fire. The incident became the impetus for Bruce and Sue to start their own concession business--BMJ D-Lites--at the same time that he worked as a business manager for Salisbury Electric. Bruce really enjoyed cooking, and the two of them traveled to County Fairs and City Festivals as well as volunteered to serve and organize concessions at St. Charles High School football and baseball games. For many years, Bruce was on the Winona County Fair Board of Directors; giving back to the community was just one way that Bruce proved that life was as good as he made it. He was proud of his 35 years of sobriety and how much better his life was as a result. Some of the best days of Bruce's life had to do with the births of his three children--Billie, Michael, and Janan--and their accomplishments. Their college graduations were significant milestones and along the way, Bruce was "always there" for his kids. He believed in everything they did and encouraged them to pursue whatever they wanted. He may have been hard on them, but by his own example he taught them that there were always lessons to be learned in life. Bruce was very protective of his family and could be quite judgemental about people he didn't know. But when Isaic, Jason, and Krystal joined the family as significant others, Bruce's tone changed. He knew they absolutely had to be 'good people' because his children loved them. As adults, Bruce's children continued to look to their father for support and fun. Recently, when Mike moved back near family, he was looking forward to rebuilding a truck with his father and going ice fishing again together. It was quite a picture to see Bruce out on the ice eating Snickers bars and cold sandwiches. (Other favorite indulgences were Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Mountain Dew.) One time, Janan called her dad to say she was thinking of buying an old cabinet and looking for help refinishing it. When she showed up at his home with the cabinet, Bruce asked in his familiar sarcastic way, "So you were thinking about it, or you bought it?" Not a bad deal for the girls to have a dad who was meticulous in caring for his own vehicles; Billie and Janan caught on quickly that in order to get an oil change without a lecture, a clean car was a must!Bruce loved his cars, from the days when he built model cars as a kid to each NASCAR race day. For his 50th birthday, the family threw a party with a racing theme. They gave him tickets to the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500 race. It was one of the few times in life that his family saw Bruce cry. Bruce always enjoyed family get-togethers at his home, especially for the 4th of July when he could grill and everyone played volleyball or just hung out. When his stepfather Clayton was sick, Bruce was happy to take him for one last tour of his old farm, which meant a lot to Clayton as well as to Bruce. However, when it came to Christmas, Bruce was a little less charitable, as Michael would say, "I like Christmas like fat kids like diets." He enjoyed going to Las Vegas with the family, friends, or his loving wife Sue. They treated themselves to a weekend trips at the casinos and spent hours on their electronics practicing for the games. Bruce and Sue had a great life, made all the more wonderful by children and grandchildren. They will miss him dearly and remember him always. Bruce Kenneth Christie, 58, of St. Charles, Minnesota died Saturday, November 14, 2015 at his home. Survivors include his wife Sue, children; Billie (Isaic) Young of Rochester, Michael Christie (Krystal Morris) of Albert Lea and Janan Christie (Jason Bartel) of St. Charles, two grandchildren, Kesler and Bayla Young, his mother, Shirley Olson of New Ulm, a sister Dawn Christie of Woodbury, and Olson step brothers and sister; Craig, Pam, Noel, Mike and Brent, Sue's siblings; Gary and Marilyn Sanders, Dean and Donna Sanders, Jim Sanders, Kay and Mike Billings, Mike and Sue Sanders and Jan and Kit Sackreiter, 10 nephews and 7 nieces, several great nieces and nephews, and special neighbors, Dwight, Deb and Hannah Phillips. He was preceded in death by his father Donald, a sister Sheri, stepfather Clayton Olson, and a brother-in-law Terry Kroening. Services for Bruce will be 11AM Thursday at Hoff Funeral and Cremation Service in St. Charles, led by funeral celebrant Jenny Hoff. Friends may call from 3-8PM Wednesday and 10-11 AM Thursday at the funeral home. Burial will be in Hillside Cemetery at a later date. Friends may share a memory of Bruce, read his life story and view his video tribute, when they become available at www.hofffuneral.com. Memorials are preferred, in lieu of flowers, to St. Charles 9th grade trip to Washington DC and to the St. Charles High School baseball team. Pallbearers will be Michael Christie, Isaic Young, Jason Bartel, Jeremy Kroening, Tom Campbell and Dwight Phillips. Honorary Pallbearers will be members of the Winona County Fair Board (Phil Thesing, Tom Campbell, Glen Brouwer, Lowell Jabs, Cindy Timm, Traci Coulter, Dan Ihrke, John Brogan, Sara Laqua, and Dean Sanders).
Tribute video can be found at: videos.lifetributes.com/648051