Bruce Kilmer

Bruce Victor Kilmer Sr. of Austin, Texas gave us his last breath and left us from this world Thursday Aug 25 2022 at the age of 81. He parted from us with a seemingly defiant gesture being fully aware and yet blissfully ignorant. His journey began on Dec 24 1940 in Elkhart Indiana born to Carl O and Mary Kilmer (nee: Kirkdorfer) both preceding him in passing. As a defiant young man, dad joined the Navy April 11 1960 much to his parents disliking and shortly thereafter married our mother Jimmy Lou Rierson on June 3 1961. He spent the next 3 years in several non-war theaters around the world and ending his tours March 27 1964. Dad eventually settled (family in tow) in the Austin area in May of 1967. This was mainly due to mom hating the bitter cold and snow of Elkhart .. well also perhaps because dad’s new In-Laws lived in Austin as well. After military service he relied on what he knew a thing or two about as a career, Sign Making. His father Carl owned Kilmer Signs in Elkhart and he had learned much of the business working with him as a young man. These skills helped propel him to co-owner of Modern Signs in Austin. Eventually dad moved from what he learned from his father to joining IBM and later Solectron in the area of manufacturing. In his last few years dad lived alone as mom was diagnosed with dementia and is currently living in a nursing home memory unit. Much of these years were spent reflecting back on his life with mom by his side … well likely not that much but, there was mention of her from time to time. I know it was painful for him knowing her condition was so debilitating. Dad was a rather impatient, hard headed and arguably stubborn man. He most certainly could push your buttons and frequently did just to garner a reaction. He loved to tell stories many of which could be painfully long and laced with eloquent revisions of some version of his truth. When our sister Tanya (the daddy’s girl she was) worked on projects with him one or both would end up in an argument and throwing stuff or just walking away. He seemed to be at odds with wanting to be a perfectionist, but falling short in the followthrough. He had many projects laying around in various stages of completion. Maintenance or taking care of stuff was not really his strong points, but would often explain how it should done. Watching TV while dad was around was a task in staying focused, he would often try making conversation during a movie … you know the one you really wanted to watch and no telling when it was on again. It was hard to tell if having the TV up loud was what caused his hearing loss or his bad hearing was why he needed it loud, but was certainly annoying to folks as far away as Russia. It seems dad loved the simple things in life, like sitting on the throne reading and … well … pooping … for hours. We gave him his space … for obvious reasons. Watching NASCAR was certainly one of his pleasures, but riding in the car with him after a race was not one of ours. You had to hold on for dear life, and that followed with him until he stopped driving a few years ago. There were only a few times when his emotions got the best of him. When he found out Tanya had cancer and then when it was stage 4, it really hit him hard. Another was when he had to make the decision to put mom in a nursing home. Im sure there are others but those are the fresh ones. Dad cared greatly for all 3 of his children (Bruce Victor Kilmer Jr., Kimberly Cay Kilmer and Tanya Leigh Kilmer) and numerous Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren. He was a proud papa who loved to brag on all of his family, and sometimes in an embarrassing way like any parent would do. All of us have our own unique and shared memories of our dad, many are good and some not so much … but they are all cherished and will remain so until our journey ends. In the end I think he passed exactly how he wanted … with dignity and honor, but perhaps one day we’ll be able to ask him. While dad was passionate about a few things he was not really much for flowers or the like, so In lieu of those if you desire to give please make contributions to the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery (11463 Hwy 195 Killeen, Tx) or Hospice Austin 4107 Spicewood Springs Rd Austin, Texas. Dad … may your final journey have fair winds and following seas.

Bruce Kilmer

December 24, 1940 - August 25, 2022