Obituary of Bruce A. Compton

Bruce Arthur Compton, age 76, passed away June 28, 2019 after a very long illness. He was born July 19, 1942. He enlisted in the Marines, became a Sergeant on July 1, 1966, and served his country in Vietnam. Bruce lived an extraordinary, fulfilling, happy, exciting, and adventurous life. He was brought up in Indiantown Michigan with four brothers and three sisters. He was a devious fun-loving youngster, joining his brother Richard in youthful antics while living in the country. As adults, even though living far apart, they continued their exuberance for life through sailboat racing, flying, and only slightly more mature antics. They owned a 1946 J3 Piper Cub as teenagers and the same airplane again from 2004 - 2018. Bruce's sailing adventures included a Trans Pac race in 1993 on Richard's Alchemy 70; plus many years that were fully committed to racing in Michigan with his co-skipper, Sita Compton, primarily on their 42' sailboat, "Geronimo". Bruce built a light sports plane, restored the Piper Cub, enjoyed snowmobiles, motorcycles, traveling with Sita, and joking around. He was a member of both the Bay City Yacht Club and Saginaw Bay Yacht Racing Association, and served as an officer on their boards. He ran a farming partnership operation, during which time local farmers sought out his talents to work on their farm equipment. He was a well respected professional mechanic and co-owner of BC Automotive Service Center with business partner and wife, Sita. He is survived by his wife Sita; his closest living relatives, Richard (Mary) Compton of Santa Barbara CA, Joy Roberts of Okemos MI, Linda Tinker of Lansing MI, Lila Crete of Midland MI; many extended family members; former wife, Kathy Compton; many close friends; the Hayward family of Munger; sailboat racing crew; and aviation buddies. He was predeceased by three brothers. A special thank you is extended to those friends who frequently visited Bruce during his stay at Sheffield Bay Assisted Living, Harvey Klinert of Munger, Harold & Carla Miller of Bay City, and Malcolm Brubaker of Midland; and to Al, Randy and Barb Hayward, for stepping in as Sita's emergency backup. Our deepest gratitude is expressed to our friend and neighbor George Bender, who for many years frequently stopped in to visit and render assistance on projects. A small Celebration of Life is being planned with details to be announced later in the summer via email. In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider memorial contributions to a special fund that has been set up in Bruce's name, the Parkinson's & Movement Disorders Fund for Discovery 318779. Donations may be made payable to the University of Michigan (with Bruce's name in the Memo section), Michigan Medicine Office of Development, 1000 Oakbrook Dr., Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734-764-6777) or visit https://leadersandbest.umich.edu/find/#!/give/basket/fund/318779/tributee/Bruce%20Compton/type/memory To sign online guestbook, visit www.cremationsocietymidmi.com