Thea E. Bruce

Thea Ellery Bruce passed away at her home on September 14, 2023, surrounded by her family, after a short illness. Born on May 9, 1952, Thea grew up as the oldest of five children. She graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1974. There, she met her future husband, Joe, during her senior year. They were married on May 31, 1975. After getting married, Thea and Joe lived in Washington, D.C. until Joe finished law school. After Joe graduated, they moved to Illinois and eventually settled in Rockford in 1978. Thea started working in banking after graduating college, but decided to stay at home to raise her family when her children were young. They had three children, Joseph, born in 1980, Patrick, born in 1982 and Tess. Tess was born very prematurely in 1986 and died after seven months.

While at home, Thea became an active volunteer and Board Member of Family Advocate, Inc., a not-for-profit agency providing counseling services for families where the children had been sexually abused. She eventually became the President of the Board of Directors and was the Board President when Family Advocate received the Excelsior Award in 1987. During her time at home, she also commuted to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and received her M.S. Ed in Counseling and became a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC).

When her boys became school age, Thea began to work at Family Advocate as a counselor. She counseled sexual abuse perpetrators as well as the adult and child survivors of sexual abuse. She specialized in providing counseling to sexually abused children. She eventually became the Executive Director of Family Advocate for many years. Thea became an expert in the causes and effects of family sexual abuse, speaking at conferences, training counselors and social workers and testifying in criminal and juvenile court as an expert witness. After leaving Family Advocate, Thea was a counselor at Catholic Charities until her retirement. Her career was extremely difficult and could be emotionally taxing. However, she understood the importance of the work she did and today, many survivors of sexual abuse are living the benefits of her efforts.

Thea was compassionate, funny, intelligent and loved to laugh. To her family, she was a beacon of unconditional love. Throughout her life, she was a voracious reader, typically having 8-10 books from the library on her coffee table at home at any given moment. In her retirement, Thea enjoyed knitting and embroidery. It would not be uncommon for Thea to be working on a project while Joe watched sports on TV.

Thea is survived by her husband of 48 years, Joseph, sons Joseph (Veronica) Bruce and Patrick (Kimberly) Bruce, granddaughters, Clara and Emma Bruce, sisters Marty (Andrew Boer) Ellery, Sarah (Mike Martin) Ellery, Jessica (David) Ritter, brother John (Elizabeth Jones) Ellery, Mother-in-law, Ann Bruce and by John (Patricia Koppa) Bruce, Michael (Lisa Farrington) Bruce and Christine Broden and also by many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her daughter, Tess, her parents, John and Ellen Ellery, her sister-in-law, Mary Ann and her father-in-law, Joseph.

Special thanks are sent to Thea’s Doctors, Srivani Sridhar and Malgorzata Bach, Bernie Marinelli with Satori Pathway, and her nurse Konnie with United Hospice.

A visitation will take place on Monday, September 18, 2023, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, Mulford Chapel, 1860 S. Mulford Road, Rockford, Illinois 61108. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Holy Family Catholic Church, 4401 Highcrest Rd., Rockford, on Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. with visitation in the Church from 10-11:00 a.m. Burial in Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Remedies Renewing Lives, Inc., 220 Easton Parkway, Rockford, Illinois 61108 or Satori Cares Inc.,7431 East State Street, Suite 253, Rockford, Illinois 61108. Express condolences at www.fitzgeraldfh.com.