NORTHBOROUGH

Bruce Wheaton Arbour of Northborough died peacefully on April 2, 2023, age 67, following surgery, with his family at his side. Until post-operative complications arose, he had brilliantly triumphed over life-long medical challenges by sheer perseverance, to the overwhelming pride and joy of his entire family. He is predeceased by his parents Jane Wheaton Arbour and Malcolm H. Arbour of Shrewsbury, his grandparents Mildred (Jacobson) and George Arbour of Worcester and Elsie (McLean) and Walter Wheaton of Hartford, Connecticut, and his uncle Robert Bradford Wheaton.

Surviving Bruce are his step-daughter Roberta; his siblings Susan Moreno and her husband Phillip, Jane Whitney Pond and her husband Thomas Lowe, and Keith Bradford Arbour and his wife Nancy Hallock; his nephews Benjamin Pond, Christopher Pond, Jonathan Moreno, Lisa Moreno, and Daniel Moreno, and their spouses and children; his aunt Barbara K. Wheaton; and his cousins Catherine Wheaton Saines and her husband Philip, Joseph Wheaton, and Henry Wheaton and his wife Margaret Butterfield. He loved their company and kept up with the news of all their lives until nearly his very last day. Bruce was an exceptionally fine brother, father, and friend.

A long-time skier and all-weather walker, during the past twenty years Bruce's smiles have been raised by the many Northborough acquaintances who spoke with him during his daily eight-mile walks, and by many friends' waves and greetings from open car windows. He loved his neighbors on Village Drive, just two blocks from the Park Street house in which he grew up; and enjoyed Northborough's Community Meals with them and others. During his professional career as a nurse and nursing supervisor, he took special pride in his work at Beaumont Nursing Home in Westborough. In a family of skiers, he was the most fearless, being the only one to ski over Tuckerman Ravine's Headwall during annual spring hikes up New Hampshire's Mount Washington. He grew up skiing on Vermont's Stratton Mountain, considered Maine's Sunday River his favorite terrain, and reveled in the deep powder snow he found from Utah to the Swiss and French Alps and the Italian Dolomites. No notice of Bruce's life would be complete without mentioning his enjoyment of the The Grateful Dead's music, and the years he devoted to restoring his MG Midget and Bug-Eyed Sprite, in both of which he crossed the country (doubling as his own mechanic).

Bruce's family invites all who knew him (or merely waved a cheerful greeting!) to calling hours at Hays Funeral Home, 56 Main Street, Northborough on Monday, April 10, from 5 – 7PM. Bruce's funeral and burial will be private.

Memorial donations may be made in his name to Northborough Community Meals, C/O Northborough Helping Hands, P.O. Box 383, Northborough, MA 01532. For online condolences, please visit: www.haysfuneralhome.com