Robert Bruce Griggs

Robert Bruce Griggs passed away on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, at the age of 82. Born October 30, 1942, in Flint, Michigan, Bruce was the oldest of three children. Bruce graduated from Grand Blanc High School, attended General Motors Institute, and graduated from Northern Michigan University in 1966 with a BS in biology. After graduation, Bruce was drafted into the Army. He achieved the rank of First Lieutenant and was posted in Quang Tri during the Vietnam War. Upon completing military service, Bruce briefly returned to Michigan before moving to Anchorage, Alaska.

Bruce thrived in the Last Frontier. Shortly after arriving in Alaska, he met Carol Murphy, who was initially unimpressed by the bold and self-assured Bruce, but eventually won her over, and they married in 1972. Together, they embarked on a life filled with hunting, fishing, and camping. Bruce worked a variety of careers before settling into two vastly different industries – real estate in Anchorage, and commercial salmon fishing on Kodiak.

In 1994, Bruce and Carol relocated to Traverse City, Michigan, where they lived for the next thirty years. In Michigan, Bruce worked in real estate and built custom homes. Bruce also built his own dream home on acreage that served as the epicenter of his hunting and fishing exploits for the rest of his life.

Bruce’s life-long passion for hunting and fishing was surpassed only by his devotion to family. Throughout his life, Bruce dedicated himself to protecting, providing for, and supporting his wife and children, and he took immense pride in their independence and accomplishment.

Bruce was preceded in death by his parents, Rose Pauline Griggs and Robert Lee Griggs, and daughter Angela Marie Griggs. He is survived by his wife, Carol Anne Griggs; sister, Susan Griggs; brother, Thomas Griggs and his wife Margie; sons, Robert Shawn Griggs and his wife Salona Naicker, and John Ryan Griggs and his partner Brent Maynard; daughter, Lauren Kay Griggs-Dalzell and her husband Daisy Dalzell; and grandchildren, Robert Theodore Griggs and Dahlia James Dalzell.

The Griggs family will host a celebration of Bruce’s life in Anchorage, Alaska this summer, and in lieu of flowers, ask that you consider a donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

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