Maxallen Bruce Obituary

Maxallen Bruce
08/26/1942 - 07/08/2025
Maxallen Lee Bruce was born August 26, 1942, in Port Neches, Texas, to William Thomas Bruce and Francis Willard Ritchie.

Max grew up within blocks of his extended family, spending countless hours watching oil tankers on the Neches River, sometimes using their wake to propel his homemade rafts. His early childhood embodied a lifestyle reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

After Max's father passed away his senior year in high school, he and his mother moved to Austin where he began studying at the University of Texas. There he met his wife of 60 years, Judith Ann Porter Bruce. They married on September 26, 1964 after graduation. Max began his career with Ford Motor Company as a quality control engineer and later worked for Collins Radio Company. At Collins, his team developed the first communications system for submerged nuclear submarines which is still in use today. He received his master's degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University and began work on his doctorate at the University of Texas. He was then hired by Texaco, Inc in their corporate engineering department in Houston as an environmental and utility systems engineer.

One of his proudest achievements was being a founding member and secretary of the Construction Industry Institute (CII), which coordinated construction research at major U.S. technical universities and throughout western Europe and still impacts construction worldwide. He retired from Texaco in 1999 as Senior Staff Engineer and head of the Utilities section.

Max came to know the Lord Jesus as his personal Savior through his mother as a pre-teen and was always active in his church.

He also coached Little League baseball where his son David was on the 1989 Westbury Little League baseball team that won the Texas State Championship.

Max is survived by his wife Judith, daughter Karen, son David, and six grandchildren (Naomi, Faith, Charisse, KT, Delaney, and Caleb).

A memorial service will be held at Westbury Baptist Church in Houston on July 19 at 2pm. A graveside service will also be held at Oak Bluff Memorial Park in Port Neches on August 9 at 10am.