Maralyn Ann Bruce

We honor our mom, Maralyn Ann Savage Bruce (June 2, 1933-July 14, 2026), with all of our hearts.

Her love, compassion and empathy for others was felt by all who were lucky enough to be touched by her great heart. Always putting the needs of others before hers, she had a gift of touching people and gifting them to feel more worthy, smarter, more capable and more beautiful. Her ability to connect with others was undeniably so innate.

As mother to our sister, Julie Ann Bruce (2/11/1968-10/20/1984) born with Downs Syndrome, our mom taught us all, through her actions, how to be an ally and how to advocate for those in need of a little extra encouragement, strength, confidence and courage.

She was a mother, not just to us three children, but to so many of our friends, as well, who were touched by her nurturing ways. She guided, conversed, shared and empowered many with the wings they needed to take flight.

Aside from her immense internal beauty, her outer beauty did not go unnoticed either. As a young woman, she was often flatteringly compared to Audrey Hepburn. Her beauty led her to a modeling career which spanned for a decade between the years of 1964-1974 in Washington D.C.

As a model for Julius Garfinckle and Company, a flagship department store in Washington D.C., she adorned many Washington newspapers’ front page fashion and style sections to include The Washington Post, The Washington Daily News, The Evening Star and The Sunday Star Magazine. Her front page appearance in the Style Section of The Washington Post on March 27, 1965 garnered front row attention on our family’s “Wall of Fame”.

She captured the spotlight, as well, modeling at The Museum of African Art on Capitol Hill, The Peruvian Embassy and The Shoreham Regency Hotel and Ballroom.

Born in Columbus, Ohio to Thomas Wesley Savage and Ethel Wheeler Savage, her childhood was spent growing up all across the country as her father fulfilled his duties as Colonel in the US Air Force.

Married at age 19 in 1953 to Dale James Bruce (8/22/1930-11/15/2014), life’s road then carried them from multiple Ohio towns to the suburbs of Washington DC in 1964.

She was so lucky to have made such beautiful friendships in our Hillmead Neighborhood in Bethesda, MD, where our family resided between 1964 and1994. Her friendships were of the kind that only one can dream of. Forever Friendships that have spanned decades of life and carry with them an eternal flame.

Hilton Head Island was called home during retirement years between 1994 and 2017. Colorado served as home from 2017-2025 where she lived close by to family for more support when health situations arose.

From handing out hot chocolate to the mailman on a cold winter day to offering coolers of ice cold sodas to the house painters on a hot one in July, mom always had the needs of others in mind. Her grandkids will always imagine the reaction of the homeless man who would be surprised upon finding the $50 bill tucked inside the left overs container that she handed off to him one late night at a street corner in downtown Denver, Colorado.

She will be remembered for the bottomless bowl of Hershey Kisses that she always had available for her Care Givers to enjoy at her Assisted Living homes. She will forever be remembered for her genuine desire to connect, to learn and know about others; for her love of family, life, sunflowers, ladybugs and the moon and for her strength to carry on during difficult times and her endurance to keep pushing through despite many an obstacle; certainly during this last decade of her life.

Despite all of her struggles most recently, she continued to express her wish to physically be on this earth. She said to me, “I want to watch you all grow old”. She never EVER gave up. Her light will forever shine so brilliantly bright!