Bruce Paul Bedford

Born: June 28, 1940
Died: April 29, 2021

Bruce Bedford was born in Bridgeport, Conn., son of Harry N. and Elizabeth Wall Bedford. He attended high schools in Rochester, N.Y. and Middletown, Ohio.

At Yale he was a member of Calhoun, where he served as sophomore counselor and was on the swimming team. He was a member of the Outing Club and A.I.E.S.E.C. Bruce competed on the freshman swimming and water polo teams; he received his swimming numerals. He also competed on the Varsity swimming and water polo teams, 1960-1962.

At Yale Bruce majored in Industrial Administration, was on Dean’s List and earned his B.S. He then attended Harvard Business School where he earned his M.B.A. in 1964.

In 1964, he married Ann Logan of New Haven, an R.N., who graduated from Boston College and worked in New Haven as a visiting nurse.

Bruce and Ann then moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he began his business career as an executive at Mead Paper Co. In 1983 Bruce purchased the investment division of Mead and created his own fixed income mutual fund, Flagship Resources, which proved very successful for many years. He started with 9 employees and his company grew to 90 employees by 1997.

Bruce was named Ohio’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 1993 and was nominated for American Entrepreneur of the year.

In 1997, Flagship Resources was acquired by Nuveen & Co., but Bruce never really retired. He acted as an investor and mentor to entrepreneurs in USA and Canada. He helped start new companies as varied as health technology and marine technology. He also was a member of the Board of Directors for Antioch University where he received a Ph.D. In addition he served as Chancellor of Antioch College for several years.

Bruce was busy to the end. At the time of his sudden death he was finishing his Master’s Degree in International Diplomacy at Norwich University.

Bruce is survived by Ann, his wife of 58 years, their daughters Susan Bedford Martin (Jason) of Toronto, Canada and Julie Vanderbilt (Douglas) of Arlington, Virginia where she works for NOAA. He was survived by 3 grandchildren, Elizabeth Martin, Joseph Martin and Dylan Vanderbilt. He is also survived by his sister Bonnie Huber of Waverly, Ohio.

The published obituary reveals the softer side of Bruce as it states: “If you were here he would buy you ice cream and tell you ‘things happen and then they pass.’ Maybe you can buy ice cream for someone on his behalf.”

Your scribe remembers Bruce at swim practice splashing through those 20 repeat 50s. He was a man of firm determination in all he did.

A memorial service will be scheduled in the future after Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. In lieu of flowers the family suggested an educational charity of the donor’s choosing in Bruce’s name.

  – Robert G. Oliver