Obituary of Bruce Donald Vance
In Celebration of Bruce Vance
Bruce Donald Vance was born on July 11, 1961, in Tillsonburg, Ontario. He passed away on October 18, 2024, at the Rose Garden Hospice in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan at the age of 63.
Bruce hit the ground running almost from the day he was born, and his love of sports, community and people propelled him through a lifetime of adventures, genuine connections and good spirits.
In his early years he was involved in every sport possible, whether it was a pickup game of street hockey or organized intramurals, Bruce was in and was usually one of the organizers. In high school he competed in track, cross country and basketball. He was never short on heart and determination. In high school, he also got his first taste of running events as he was elected the youngest Prime Minister of Glendale High School student council, helping to organize dances, fundraisers and pep rallies.
After high school, he moved to Toronto and obtained a degree in Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University. From there the dream of working in sports as a career had him head west to Dawson Creek, BC as the TV and radio sports director of CJDC. He got his first taste of hockey play-by-play while broadcasting for the junior and senior hockey teams.
He moved to Medicine Hat, Alberta in 1984 to take on the role of radio and TV sports announcer at CHAT. While in Medicine Hat, he also did play-by-play for the Medicine Hat Tigers on Hat Cable 10. Later, in 1986, he met the love of his life, Liane Sadlemyer, in the press box at a Medicine Hat Tigers game. It didn’t bother Bruce that Liane had just started working for the competition, he was smitten. Bruce and Liane’s love of everything sports seemed to make them a perfect match. Sure enough, less than three years later, they were married on the Vance family island at Nine Mile Lake in Muskoka, Ontario.
Nine Mile Lake held a very special place in Bruce’s heart as he was only six weeks old when he made his first trip to the island cottage. He had so many fond memories of happy times on the island and even though in later years, he lived a few thousand miles away, he introduced Liane and their children to the beauty of Muskoka. The island remains in the Vance family name today.
Bruce and Liane would move from Medicine Hat to Lethbridge in 1988. It was there that they started a family and welcomed Jonathon, Briane and Jessica into the world. Bruce held a number of jobs in Lethbridge including Sports Director at 1090 CHEC radio, Sports Information Director at the University of Lethbridge and Marketing Director of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He was very proud to have been a part of the University of Lethbridge Pronghorn men’s hockey national championship team in 1994 and the Lethbridge Hurricanes WHL championship in 1997. He also was involved with his kids’ sports and the voice of Bridge County Raceway.
In 2001, the family moved to Prince Albert where Bruce lived until his passing. He became immersed in the Prince Albert community as the Marketing Director and later Business Manager for the Prince Albert Raiders. He brought many successful events to the community, all while volunteering as a softball coach and hockey executive. His many accolades earned him an induction into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame and the Prince Albert Raiders wall of honour.
Whether it was being a coach and a fan of his kids’ games, having a lifelong career centred around sports, being one of the driving forces for many sports activities or events for the communities in which he lived, or creating a lifetime of memories travelling to various amateur and professional sporting events with family and friends, Bruce’s love of sports shaped his life. It also helped him create genuine connections and friendships with people.
Bruce is survived by his wife Liane, son Jonathon, daughter Briane (Dylan) Folmer (grand-dog Leo), daughter Jessica and her partner Justin Boyer; as well as fur babies, Leena, Bo and George. He also leaves behind to mourn his sister Elizabeth (Dan) McPherson and family and brother James (Mary) Vance and family, as well Liane’s brother and sisters’ families including Lorelei (Ron) Camphaug, Marjorie (Lloyd) Nagel, Bob (Carol) Sadlemyer, Pam (Daryl) Ham and numerous nieces and nephews.
Bruce was predeceased by his father and mother (Bruce Sr. and Ella Vance), his brother John Vance, his parents-in-law (Lorne and Evelyn Sadlemyer) and his sister-in-law (Cheryl Gallatin).
A Celebration of Bruce’s Life will be held at 1:00 p.m., on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at the Ches Leach Lounge, Art Hauser Centre, 690 32nd Street East, Prince Albert, SK. In honour of Bruce, please wear your favourite sports jersey, or the colour blue. For those unable to attend, a livestream link has been provided here https://youtube.com/live/hIYUwIth-Lo?feature=share In lieu of other tributes, donations in memory of Bruce may be made to the Boreal Healthcare Foundation, Unit 206 – 345 10 Avenue West Prince Albert, SK, S6V 5T4, Cancer Foundation of Saskatchewan, 200 – 4545 Parliament Avenue, Regina, SK, S4W 0G3, or the Rose Garden Hospice, 500 38th Street West, Prince Albert, SK, S6W 0A3. Family and friends wishing to send online condolences are welcome to visit www.beaulacfuneralhome.com Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Beau “Lac” Funeral Home and Crematorium, Tracy-Lynn Lenchuk, Funeral Director, Prince Albert, SK 306-763-3322.
