Jeffrey L. Bruce Remembered

The highly respected and dearly loved Jeffrey L. Bruce, FASLA, FASIC, LEED, GRP of the multi-award winning firm of Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company (JLB, photo credit above) passed away after an aggressive battle with cancer in early January, 2020.  Our heartfelt condolences go out to Jeff’s family and colleagues from across the world.  His leadership and commitment to creating a better, more holistic built environment will always be remembered.

As President of the Kansas City, Missouri-based JLB (founded in 1986), Jeff led a diverse team of professionals with his national landscape architectural firm here in the United States:

“It is with a very heavy heart that we must share with you the news of the passing of Jeffrey Bruce, our leader, friend, and mentor who has immensely transformed the betterment and evolution of the profession of Landscape Architecture over the last 40 years.

Jeff’s place within our hearts and our noble profession will be greatly missed, but we can say with confidence, that his contributions and legacy will live on in our collective endeavors and future collaborations.

We are filled with gratitude and want to personally thank all of you for your investments, efforts, and continued engagement with JBC in conversations, projects, and relationships. Please know that JBC is now stronger and closer than ever and will live on carrying his spirit and optimism for life, how we practice, the spaces and systems we design, and the incredibly gracious and wonderful people we have and will continue to collaborate and engage with. It is both an honor and a privilege.” ~ JBC Family on LinkedIn

Image: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities LinkedIn

For those of us within the living architecture community, he may be best known as having been the dedicated Chair of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) for almost a decade, stepping down in 2018.

Steven Peck, President of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, shares the news of the immediate past chairman from the February/March GRHC Member Newsletter:

“It is with a very heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Jeffrey L. Bruce, Principal, JLB & Company and Past Chair, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Board of Directors. Jeffrey’s contribution to the green roof and wall industry over the past fifteen years has been immense. The Board of Directors will be considering ways of memorializing him. Rest in peace Jeffrey, stalwart, leader, and friend.”

Left to right: Jeff Bruce, Richard Sutton, and Steven Peck in 2016. Image: CitiesAlive

Jeff won the 2019 Green Roofs for Healthy Cities’ Chair Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Industry yet was unable to attend the Grey to Green DC Conference last October to accept.  You can read his entire thoughtful and humble acceptance speech in the Winter 2019 Living Architecture Monitor (LAM) but here is an except from “A Retrospective on Fifteen Years of Industry Building“:

“I may be the recipient of this award today but it must be shared by everyone in this room and everyone that contributed resources, time and energy to this meaningful endeavor that binds us to a common vision.

…It is imperative to continue to advocate to corporate and public interests that they have an obligation to invest in our industry which will secure its future for all.” ~ Jeffrey L. Bruce, 2019

As a design professional, Jeff had personally received over 120 separate design and leadership awards from his many affiliations, including from the American Society of Irrigation Consultants:

Inducted in 2018 as the 15th fellow in the over 40 year history of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants. Image: JLB Facebook

Jeff was also the Chair of the GRHC Training and Accreditation Committee which developed and instituted the Green Roof Professional – or GRP – Accreditation program in 2009.

You can read my “The GRP Accreditation: An Interview with Jeffrey L. Bruce” of May 29, 2009 to experience a taste of his passion for landscape architecture with his own firm as well as for the living architecture of greenroofs, greenwalls, and green infrastructure which he espoused with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities.

We at Greenroofs.com were very honored to have had Jeff participate in our 2013 Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summit.  His informative and instructive video presentation “Introduction to Integrated Water Management” was highly received, and you can see or rewatch it below:

Jeffrey L. Bruce will be greatly missed.

Jeff’s many accomplishments, both personal and professional, will reverberate for a very long time and he will always be recollected with great respect and a smile which mirrors his own always kind and affable persona.

Jeffrey L. Bruce in memoriam

Linda S. Velazquez, ASLA, LEED AP, GRP
Greenroofs.com Publisher & Greenroofs & Walls of the World™ Virtual Summits Host