New Westport Lion Bruce Blair and his wife LuAnne are new residents to Westport.
Westport Lions Roar
Lion Bruce Blair transferred to the Westport Lions from the Perth Lions in July of this year having moved to Westport a year earlier. Bruce was born in Ottawa in 1954 and moved with his parents and older brother David to Oakville, to Whitehorse, to Halifax and then back to Ottawa where he attended high school.
Yes – his father was in the military; he grew up on a dairy farm near Manotick, attended Queen’s University and Royal Military College in Kingston and retired in Ottawa with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Bruce also went to Queen’s and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. He also met his wife LuAnne at Queen’s. They started their married life in 1980 in Calgary where their two boys, Blake and Andrew were born. In Calgary Bruce began a 40-year career in engineering and construction with EllisDon, taking him to manage offices in Edmonton, Seattle WA, Charlotte NC, and Orlando Florida. In Florida, Bruce looked after EllisDon’s operations in the Southeast United States and the Caribbean until he was transferred back to Canada to take a lead in major Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in British Columbia out of the Vancouver office. Bruce finished his career in Toronto and Ottawa and retired to Christie Lake in 2018 where Bruce and LuAnne had bought a home in 2011. LuAnne and Bruce’s two boys attended University in Florida and have settled in the Orlando area, owning and operating restaurants.
Bruce and LuAnne have lived and have family in the area between Ottawa and Kingston and it was an easy choice to choose this area for retirement. Bruce and LuAnne enjoy boating, golfing, cooking, entertaining and traveling. The move to Westport from Christie Lake was motivated by Bruce and LuAnne’s desire to downsize and simplify their lives here and make it easier for them to spend part of the winter in Florida where they could be closer to their sons. During his career in construction and engineering Bruce was involved with industry and charity organizations and came to appreciate what a dedicated volunteer group of individuals could accomplish by working together. The Lions Club was a natural choice when looking for a service organization to join. Bruce said: “I’ve lived in many different places in North America and I am very impressed by the services, activities and fundraiser projects that the Westport Lions undertake. The history of service and accomplishments of the Westport Lions are commendable, and I look forward to serving in whatever way I can in the years to come.”
Westport Lions Club 