Obituary

Bruce Dining died at home after a prolonged illness in Apache Junction, Az on May 6, 2021 in the loving care of his wife, Celine

Bruce Francis Dining was born on July 14, 1934 in Melrose, MA to Carl Moulton Dining and Virginia (Dennett) Dining. He lived in Exeter, NH until he left for the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI for high school and then on to UNH in Durham, MH where Bruce earned a BS in History. As an adult, he commuted to Cambridge to take further courses in History at Harvard. Through his college years, Bruce ran his own ice cream business at Hampton Beach during the summers to pay for school. He was an active member of the Acacia fraternity where he met several life-long friends. He served in the US Active Army Reserve.

After graduating from UNH, Bruce went to work for his father in the small, family oil delivery business, C.M. Dining, Inc. He married Janet Taylor whom he had met at UNH and the couple started a family. Over a period of roughly thirty-five years, Bruce turned the small oil business into a full-service oil and propane gas business with five locations, over 40 vehicles, and numerous rail cars. during this time, he was actively involved on a national level in the NLPGA through Board membership and he greatly enjoyed the travel and the many relationships built while doing this work. In the 1970’s, C.M. Dining, Inc. was one of the largest independent LPG re-sellers in the Eastern US.

After selling the fuel businesses, Bruce started a second career in insurance. He ultimately left his beloved New England after 62 years and moved to West C to work for his daughter, Elizabeth, in her thriving insurance business based in Boulder.

Active in business for most of his life, Bruce also loved adventure, travel and the outdoors, history, books and genealogy. he was proud of his family’s six generations in NH. Bruce and Jan built a mountain house in Franconia, NH from which many backpacking and skiing trips began. He passed a love of hiking on to his son and grandson. He began sailing in his late 40’s and owned two sailboats and a trawler, traveling from the Pacific Coast of Costa Rice to Maine with numerous adventures over the years along the Maine Coast. Bruce Married Celine in 1984 and the couple traveled several time to Europe and, later, all over the Us from Florida to Alaska in their RV.

Bruce retired at age 70. He and Celine split their time between Apache Junction and Riverside, WY with their cat Gillian, until they tired of driving the RV they both had enjoyed and they put down roots in Apache Junction. In his final years, he enjoyed sharing the history and beauty of his new home at the foot of the Superstition Mountains with visiting children and grandchildren.

Bruce’s greatest gift is his unconditional love for his family. He leaves several loving family members and friends behind, including: his wife, Celine, of Apache Junction, AZ; his sisters, Sally Dining of Exeter, NH and Belinda Dining of Blowing Rock, NC; his children, Mark (and Catherine) of Oakland, CA, Time (and Jenny) of Concord, NH, and Elizabeth of Boulder, CO; his grandchildren, Liam Paull-Dining, Smita Boesch Dining, Priti Boesch Dining, Eli Boesch Dining, Erin Watt, and John Destefano; as well as many nieces and cousins.