BRUCE ANDERSON Obituary

BRUCE ANDERSON Bruce Anderson of Pahoa, Hawaii passed away on December 6, 2024. He was born Bruce Alexander Bernheim in Oakland, California, in 1941. As a kid, he was interested in science and invention and taught himself how to make gunpowder which, unfortunately, resulted in a small explosion at the local high schoolearning him a visit to juvenile hall. His subsequent distrust of authority notwithstanding, he joined the U.S. Navy at eighteen and attended nuclear power school, serving as a submarine reactor operator surveilling the globe underwater, including long weeks under the polar ice. Bruce was a longtime Hawaii resident, whose life here began when he left the submarine service in the sixties and enrolled in UH. In 1976 he was among the first graduating class from the Richardson School of Law. After graduation, Bruce was instrumental in getting the Libertarian Party on the Hawaii ballot. In the eighties he was invited to Chuuk to advise the government of the Federated States of Micronesia on the writing of their constitution. On his return to the Big Island, Bruce purchased a rustic house in Puna, where he and longtime companion Dale Pratt spent their days working in their gardens and caring for an interesting variety of animals, including Bruce's pet rats. Together, Bruce and Dale traveled the globeshe remembers in particular their trip to Petra, Jordan, where Bruce disappeared with a young guide, scaling a dangerous cliff trail behind the main ruin, returning hours later with tales of being invited to drink tea with a local family. Bruce is remembered for his kindness to any in need, be it human or animal, and for his incisive intellect, analytic prowess and infectious, offbeat sense of humor. Bruce is survived by Dale Pratt; his daughter, Eva K. Anderson; grandson Jushin J. Terada; sister Patricia Anderson Harvey; brother Russell Anderson, five nieces and eleven grandnieces. Funeral arrangements are pending.