Bruce Thain was born in Brooklyn to Lawrence and Ruth Thain. He died at the Connecticut Hospice in Branford on April 14 with his beloved wife Vivian by his side, singing his favorite folk tunes. He was 78.
Bruce grew up in Brooklyn and spent summers as a kid in Island Beach, New Jersey. He and his brother, Rob, became close companions there, something that continued through their lives.
Bruce and Vivian married on the M/V Commander on the Hudson River on Aug. 13, 1994. Bruce was a no-frills man who requested peanut butter and jelly on Ritz crackers for hors d'oeuvres at their wedding. (They were a hit.)
Bruce was a navy veteran, serving from 1964-68. He modestly didn't discuss it. "I'm no hero," he'd say.
Though he was a machinist by trade, restoring trolley cars was Bruce's passion in life. He had been a member of the Shore Line Trolley Museum since 1956. Bruce owned his own machine shop, Rail Tech, in Guilford, where he restored trolleys for museums, since 1990.
Bruce was a consummate gentleman who always went above and beyond for loved ones. He is survived by his wife Vivian; brother Rob; niece Katy; nephew Jeff; stepchildren Guy and wife Margaret, Marcy and husband Tom, Meredith and husband Scott; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and five grandnieces.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 21, at 11 a.m. at the Stony Creek Congregational Church in Branford. The burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Shore Line Trolley Museum: http://www.bera.org/donate.html or Guilford Garden Club Tree Fund, P.O. Box 608 Guilford, CT 06437. Arrangements in care of the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church St, Guilford. To share a memory or leave a message of condolence for the family, please visit: http://www.GuilfordFuneralHome.com