James Bruce Obituary

Bruce, James Charles Age 87, first African American professor to teach in the Undergraduate School at the University of Chicago. James Charles Bruce was born in Washington, District of Columbia, on July 15,1929. When he was eight years old, the family movedto Arlington, Virginia,where he spent the next ten years. He attended elementary school in the District of Columbia and Arlington, and attendedthe Francis Junior High School and the Dunbar Senior High School in Washington, graduating from Dunbar in 1946. When he was eighteen years old, the family moved back to Washington, where he lived for the next nine years.He received his B.A. and M.A. from Howard University and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. In 1960-61, he studiedat the University of Frankfurt am Main in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. He taught German at the South Carolina State College (now the South Carolina State University) in 1956-57 and at the University of Chicago from 1961 until 1989. Having become a Nichiren Buddhist of the Soka Gakkai persuasion, he went to Japan to teach English Conversation at Soka University in the city of Hachioji in 1989 on a threeyear leave of absence from the University of Chicago. In 1992, he was granted early retirement from the University of Chicago and remained at Soka University until the year 2000, whereupon he returned to the city of Chicago.In 1956, he married Grace Rebecca Young of Chicago, whom he had met at Howard University. The marriage ended in 1981. Among positions he held, he served at various times as secretary and chairman of the German II section of the Midwest Modern Language Association, as chairman of the Committee to Amend the Constitution and By-Laws of the American Association of Teachers of German, and as secretary of that organization.His publications include reviews and articles on German literature and a book for Japanese students of English titled A Tale of Two Countries. James served proudly as a member of the Beta Boulé Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. He was a member of the Dunbar [High School] Alumni Federation and a generous contributor to its scholarship fund and annual appeal.He was predeceased by his second son, Jason Whittington Bruce and is survived by his first son, James Charles (Deborah) Bruce Jr.; James's two sons, Jordan James Bruce and Justin Dalton Bruce; Jason's two sons, William Atticus Bruce and Matthew Charles Bruce; and by Jason's widow, La Veda Underwood Bruce.James Charles Bruce met his immutable karma on January 26, 2017. Services will be held on Saturday, March 11, 2017, 2:00 p.m. at SGI-USA International Buddhist Cultural Center, 1455 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Submitted by Unity Funeral Parlors, Inc. 4114 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago (773-624-2703) www.unityfuneralparlors.com