Obituary: Bruce Finch, 76, Free Soil.

Bruce Finch

Obituary: Bruce Finch, 76, Free Soil.

Bruce J. Finch, 76, of Free Soil, passed away on November 18, 2019 surrounded by his family.

Bruce was born in Rockford, Mich. to Jim and Myrtle Finch on April 18, 1943. 

In his youth, Bruce ran around town raising hell with his best friend Norman Miller and sparking the playfully torturous chronicles of Junior Visser, a young boy that was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

In 1961, Bruce graduated from Rockford High School and started a job as a factory foreman.

Three years later, on March 22, 1963, Bruce married the love of his life and hottest lady in town, Nita Hoag. True partners in crime, Bruce and Nita were best friends, hunting buddies, and the loving parents of three beautiful children for 56 wild years. 

In 1966, Bruce told Nita he could hear something bigger for work calling his name and soon he found the source — the song of Lady Justice. Bruce traded in his bad boy history for a badge and cold steel, not realizing he was starting the first chapter of a 33-year career in law enforcement.

From 1966 to 1980, Bruce served as the Chief of Police for his hometown of Rockford, throwing the outer-city lawbreakers and big-haired weirdos of Grand Rapids behind bars. After arresting nearly every bad guy in town, the true gunslinger grew tired of the city scene, so he took his good aim north to rattle the cages of Mason County. Bruce served as the Undersheriff of Lake County for one year before making his final career transition as Undersheriff of Mason County where he retired in 1999. 

An avid outdoorsman, Bruce spent his retirement hunting deer, bear, and turkey with Nita and his family. Not a year went by where he didn’t set up deer camp and cause a ruckus in the woods. Bruce was a lifetime member of his local Fin and Feather Club. When he wasn’t hunting, he was passing on his love of hunting to his children and grandchildren. 

Family meant everything to Bruce. The weekend before his passing, he spent every moment with the love of his life and their large family. He had a good day filled with laughs and was even able to go out hunting on opening weekend one last time. 

Bruce was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his best friend and wife Nita; his children, Vickie (and Ron) Trombley, Julie (and Richard) Harmon, and Wendy (and Dan) Tietz; his grandchildren Nikki (and Nick) Verberkmoes, Brett (and Alecia) Trombley, Kate (and Jeff) Burns, Kyle (and Courtney) Harmon, Zack (and Caitlin) Harmon, Cody (and Samantha) Tietz, Celsey Tietz, and Courtney (and Eddy) Anderson; and his great-grandchildren Sophia, Noah, and Ian Harmon, Kaden Trombley, Colton Tietz, Fisher Anderson, and baby Anderson due in December.

A celebration of Bruce’s life will be held Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 1 p.m. at the Fin and Feather Club. Family will greet friends starting at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Bruce’s name may be directed to the Fin and Feather Club. 

Arrangements have been entrusted to Oak Grove Funeral Home of Ludington, www.oakgroveludington.com.