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Chronicle
2015-2016
4626
Aged 94
John Bruce
Russell Wells
John Bruce Russell Wells (Bruce) was born in
1922 in Ashburton, the eldest son of John
Russell Wells and Phoebe Doris Wells, brother
of Jeanette and Guyon (5455), father of
Robert (8430), Janet, Rachel, Richard (9118)
and Rebecca.
After Waihi School, he attended Christ’s College
in Jacobs House from 1936 to 1940. He was a
house prefect, won the senior one mile walk and
received a science academic prize.
Bruce studied medicine at Otago University from
1941 to 1945 residing at Selwyn College during
that time. He moved to Christchurch for his final
year of study and graduated in 1947 and met his
wife, Katherine (nee Wickham) who everyone
knew as Kath.
After graduation, Bruce spent three months on
the Chatham Islands as a medical officer, and
then from 1949 to 1950 at the Royal Melbourne
Hospital. He then spent three years in England in
various registrar positions. In 1953, he obtained
two surgical fellowships, the FRCS (Edinburgh)
and FRCS (England) prior to returning to New
Zealand with his fiancée.
Bruce married Kath in Christchurch at St
Barnabas Church in 1954. For the next five years
until 1961, he was a surgeon at the Ashburton
Public Hospital, where he worked alongside his
father as the senior surgeon.
In 1961, Bruce moved to his next opportunity as
a surgeon at Southland Public Hospital (Kew) in
Invercargill with his wife and two sons and two
daughters. As well as working at the hospital, he
set up a surgery at the front of his newly acquired
house and started private practice. In 1965,
he obtained another fellowship, an Australian
FRACS. As well as being a general surgeon,
Bruce began to specialise as a urologist and
in 1980 became an associate of the Australian
Urologists. In 1980, he became Director of
Surgery at Kew Hospital, but he was not fond
of the bureaucracy and administration aspects
of that role. Although he had resigned from the
Southland Hospital Board in 1987, he did not
officially retire until a suitable replacement was
hired in 1991.
In 25 years of retirement, Bruce led an active life,
often engaged in a project. He continued to ski
until he was 84, and played golf until he was 91
(signing off with a hole in one on his final round).
He spent this time mainly in Queenstown with
Kath (who died in 2001) and, in his later years,
mainly in Christchurch. He continued to play the
piano and would play for many hours. He kept
up with technology and would communicate
regularly with his children and grandchildren.
After a brief illness, Bruce passed away at
Christchurch Public Hospital on 21 August 2016
(exactly 62 years to the day that he had married
Kath in 1954). His funeral service was held on
26 August 2016 (exactly 41 years to the day his
father’s funeral service at the same place).
Bruce is survived by his five children, 10
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.