Bruce Bandt

A few years ago we wandered into PicklePro Courts for Open Play Pickleball and that's where we met Bruce. We loved playing with Bruce, he was always pleasant, quick with a joke, and boy when he hit the ball it went so fast you couldn't even see it. After a few months we organized a "friends tournament" and wouldn't you know it, Bruce and his friend John took the gold. It was so much fun! He was one of our favorite people to play with and he will be dearly missed.

Bruce was my best friend while growing up in Coloma. We were practically joined at the hip; doing all those things young boys do, which probably drove our parents and the rest of the townsfolk crazy. But life was always great when I was able to spend time with my best buddy. Playing pee-wee baseball coached by his dad, Arden, playing basketball and softball in school, riding our bikes all over town, hanging from the old apple tree by the pump house, watching Star Trek reruns after school, our disastrous attempt at building a kit model rocket, making the first ever Zip-line in his back yard (which Arden told us to take down immediately before we broke our necks!), several weekend camping trips around Wisconsin, and a two-week vacation driving across the country to California and back – with six people in a sedan, pulling a pop-up camper and, at one point, I had my guitar inside the vehicle with us singing songs as we tooled down the highway. I have thousands of incredible memories of Bruce, each one of them a wonderful story to me. Thanks for all those great times, Bruce! You will be missed.

I worked with Bruce for many years in state government at the TIME System Control Center. He is dearly missed, and I will always remember him fondly. He was a wonderful storyteller, and helped us to pass many long hours with tales of growing up in Coloma, meeting and marrying Connie, and all that Wisconsin was in the 70s and 80s. He also played an incredible prank on me which I will never forget. I am an Ice Age Trail hiker, and I told Bruce that I would be in Coloma for an upcoming hiking weekend. I thought no more about it, and my friend Natalie and I were very shocked when, after a long, sweaty day of hiking, the front desk at the hotel casually informed me the police would like to speak with me. Natalie and I, staying at the Coloma Hotel, trudged downstairs, trying desperately to remember what we may have said the night before at "The Cabin" to warrant such local attention. Arden (Bruce's father) got up and said, "You must be Adelle. Don't worry; there's no cops. Bruce told me you'd be coming our way this weekend and I just wanted to introduce myself." I was then lucky enough to hear all of Bruce's stories told from the other side lol. I especially enjoyed the stories of Bruce's town donkey. You are very missed, Bruce, and I hope the force is with you wherever you are.

Bruce is my oldest nephew, he was born when I was fourteen. Coming from a family of all sisters, I was fascinated by having a baby boy in the family. Bruce spent a lot of time at our farm, and my Dad (Bruce's Grandpa) finally had a boy. Bruce will be missed by me, it doesn't seem real that he is gone. May the Shores of Eternity surround his Soul in everlasting peace - Aunt June