Necrology

Bruce Taylor Smith, Jr. '57

Apr. 13, 1936-Oct. 3, 2023

Bruce Taylor Smith, Jr. ’57 died on Oct. 3, 2023, at the North Country Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Massena, N.Y. Born in Syracuse on April 13, 1936, he grew up in Fort Covington, N.Y., on the Quebec border. From Fort Covington High School, Bruce initially matriculated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study engineering, but within the first semester, concluded that was a mistake and transferred to Hamilton. 

On the Hill, he became a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and majored in English literature while simultaneously preparing for medical school. Hockey was Bruce’s sport. Before coming to Hamilton, he had been a defenseman on his high school team when it won the state championship. During his junior year at Hamilton, he was one of three Fort Covington natives, all members of the Class of 1957, who were on the hockey team.

Bruce was determined to follow in his late father’s footsteps both academically and professionally. His father was a doctor and surgeon who was killed in Belgium in September 1944. He was also an alumnus of the College of Physicians at McGill University in Montreal, and Bruce sought admission to that medical school. (Montreal is not far from Fort Covington.)

 In the mid-1950s, the College of Physicians’ admissions policies welcomed applicants who had completed three years of undergraduate study and who presented “exceptionally high qualifications.” As Bruce was not a formal “pre-med” student on the Hill, Dean Winton Tolles prepared his letter of recommendation. Collectively, that letter, the fact that Bruce’s older brother was also a College of Physicians alumnus, and Bruce’s academic record led to his admission. He subsequently transferred from Hamilton to McGill just prior to beginning what would have been his senior year.

Bruce prepared for a medical career as a general practitioner. He also played on McGill’s varsity hockey team, the only American to do so at the time. Early in 1960, he met Mary Margaret Rosalie Kent, a nursing student at Montreal General Hospital, known to everyone as “Rosalie.” Following his graduation from McGill in 1960, Bruce returned to Massena and joined a general practice that his brother had established. On Feb. 25, 1961, he married Rosalie in her hometown of Lachine, Quebec. They had two daughters and a son. During this time, he was also the medical doctor for the General Motors Massena Casting Plant, a facility that produced engine blocks and cylinder heads for GM vehicles.

In 1970, after 10 years as a general practitioner, Bruce changed course. He and his family returned to Montreal, and he embarked on a three-year residency in ophthalmology at McGill. In 1973, the family once again returned to Massena, where he opened a private ophthalmology practice that he maintained until his retirement in 1997. Rosalie was his surgical nurse.

During his many years in Massena, Bruce served his community as a longtime member of the local Rotary Club and as a member of the board and as chief of staff of the Massena Memorial Hospital. He also made a philanthropic commitment to the town, providing support for the Massena Memorial Hospital and North Country Public Radio.

Living in a community close to the Saint Lawrence River and Adirondack Mountains, Bruce, not surprisingly, loved the outdoors. A member of both the Massena Yacht Club and the Stillwater Club, a hunting and canoeing organization, he loved to hike, kayak, ski, and hunt in the Adirondacks, most often with family and friends. He also continued to play hockey in the community’s old timers’ league. In 2002, at age 65, he played on the gold-medal winning team at the National Senior Olympic Hockey Championship. He finally hung up his skates in 2005.

In addition to those activities, which he continued during his retirement, he and Rosalie traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands on numerous occasions and crisscrossed the United States in their recreational vehicle.

Hamilton meant a great deal to Bruce, notwithstanding his short time at the College. While on the Hill, he came to believe deeply in a liberal arts education, and the courses he took in English literature were particularly formative. He credited Hamilton as the place he learned to think and write. Of particular influence were George Nesbitt of the English Department, Dean Winton Tolles, and hockey coach Greg Batt.

Bruce T. Smith, Jr. is survived by his wife, two daughters, including Stephanie Smith Luebbers ’85, a son, and eight grandchildren. 

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