As others have learned of Bruce's passing, I have been receiving more remembrances. Some have shared this fun photo and post from 11 years ago, when Bruce had the thrill of competing against two of our bridge playing billionaires, Bill G & Warren B.
And - two more people, Tony Ames and Nick Erpelding, who have special memories and accolades about Bruce.
Bruce Boje was a "renaissance" man. His interests ran from Bridge to Pickle Ball to ROKU, whatever you needed to understand. He was a solid partner willing to learn and willing to teach. His death is a huge loss to our bridge community.
Tony Ames
I too was shocked and saddened to hear of Bruce's passing yesterday. I first met Bruce after taking a new job in 2007. Bruce was a long-time expert in the traffic engineering industry and I was semi-new to the field. Bruce took me under his wing and helped me learn the technical details of the profession.
As noted by Vern, Bruce was a tech lover and tech expert. He was a whiz with computers and spreadsheets. Several of the tools I use in my work to this day are based on templates Bruce developed decades ago. His knowledge of the 80's era equipment still used to operate modern traffic signals was amazing. Even after his retirement, and after I had moved on to another firm, I would still reach out to him for advice and guidance, and he would happily provide it.
On one of our work road trips, Bruce asked if I knew how to play bridge, and was more than slightly surprised when I said "Yes!" From that point forward we spent many hours discussing bridge, playing together as partners occasionally.
Of the countless guidance, tips and recommendations I received from Bruce as an up-and-coming player, one of my favorites was when he lent me Mel Colchamiro's book, "How You Can Play Like an Expert." In seemingly every session I've played since, there is at least one "Rule of X" hand in the set, and the tips from that book always seem to pay off!
Bruce also strongly espoused the value of support doubles and Bergen raises. He was patient when I would inevitably forget one during a set, but at the same time he knew how to motivate me like a parent in order to learn from the mistake and improve for the future.
I will greatly miss my friend and mentor.
Nick Erpelding
Bruce Boje was a Traffic Engineer by occupation. I remember driving to an out-of town bridge tournament with him and asking him about traffic light timing. He spent the next two hours or so explaining in great detail the minutia of how a system is designed that can move traffic through a city-wide grid of intersecting streets efficiently, with timing that can be changed for differing conditions and traffic networks with the use of sensors, timers, and controllers.
When we switched to discussing our bidding system, he demonstrated a similar studied knowledge,-- of hand evaluation and what and why various conventions and treatments are used. In both cases he knew his audience, and was able to convey his knowledge in a way that was understandable by me.
At the table, Bruce was the perfect partner, even-keeled, never critical, making bids that I could depend on, and never asking why I did what I did. He was a delight to partner, and a formidable opponent.
Minnesota has lost a bridge stalwart.
Denny Cerkvenik
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