Buford (Bruce) Baldridge

Bruce Baldridge went to be with the Lord on Monday evening, May 15, 2023, at the age of 94. He was surrounded by his wife, children and their spouses when God called him home to heaven! Bruce was born and raised in Houston TX, and then resided in Palos Verdes and Los Alamitos, CA.

His distinguished career started in Texas by walking a paper route to earn enough money to purchase a bicycle. He then worked at a steel mill, became a milkman, an accountant and an Assistant Controller over the years. In 1964 the family moved to California and Bruce became the Executive Vice President of Petrolane Oil Company. He briefly retired but was bored and missed working so he opened a CPA practice and worked until he was 89 years old.

Bruce and Ruth loved to travel and were blessed to visit many countries around the world. On these various vacations they were either accompanied by family members or good friends from their church. They traveled by airplane, car, train, boat, hot air balloon, tour bus and cruise ships. Bruce loved everything about traveling, especially finding an ice cream shop in every location while searching for the BEST chocolate in the world.

Bruce is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruth Baldridge and their dog, Churro. He was also survived by four adult children – Diana, Cicely, Cindy and Robert and their three spouses – Bill, Dan and Marisol, who honored Bruce with nine grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held in his honor at 9:00am on June 3, 2023 at the Rose Hills Memorial Chapel in Whittier.

In lieu of flowers, Bruce requested donations to St. Jude’s Hospital to be considered instead.