Bruce Arthur Clay

Bruce Arthur Clay
August 10, 1956 – October 28, 2025

After an extended illness, Bruce Arthur Clay’s light was peacefully extinguished while he was surrounded by family on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at Hamilton General Hospital. He was 69.

Bruce left his permanent mark on every life he touched, but none more so than with the family he loved so dearly. His is survived by his former wife, Jill Hanenberg, their children Jesse (Shannon), Bonnie (Greg), Dylan and Waylon (Brittnie), their grandchildren Bridget (Elias), William, Ben, Joel, Amara, Lydia, Aidan, Hunter, Connor, Colton, Weston, Wylder and Vandon, and their beloved great-grandson Jack, as well as innumerable nieces and nephews. Bruce is also survived by his brothers Harry (Sandy) and Brad (Gina), and his sister-in-law Chris. Predeceased by his father Harry Sr., his mother Lily, his brother Brian, and his sister Brenda.

Born in Toronto, his family moved to Oakville when Bruce was 4 and he spent his formative years there growing up on Tweedsdale Crescent and attending Woodside Public School and Blakelock High School, where he quickly established himself as a class clown. At an early age, Bruce started playing lacrosse, baseball, and hockey, including a stint playing Minor Midget Tri County hockey before briefly trying his hand at coaching. At 13, the industrious young Bruce started a business cutting lawns and could often be spotted dragging a lawn mower behind his bicycle from house to house. His early jobs also included renting skis at Glen Abbey Ski Hill, pumping gas at the Pioneer station at the corner of Lakeshore and Bronte Road, and helping to run his Great Aunt Micky’s Irish food pavilion at the CNE’s Foods of the Worlds before getting into the sand blasting and smokestack filtration industries, which his subsequent career would largely centre around. Bruce was an influential mentor to his juniors and thrived on interactions with clients, who would often ask for Bruce by name. He travelled extensively for work which allowed him to experience most of North America, from Cassiar in British Columbia to Waco Texas, and even as far afield as Sheffield England.

As many indelible qualities as Bruce had, he was probably best known for his Cheshire Cat smile, often accompanied by his playfully raised eyebrows and one of Bruce’s nonsense catchphrases such as, “Hogola Bogola!” He would often introduce himself as, “George Jetson, Spacely Sprockets”, much to the confusion of people who didn’t know him yet. He was always in on the joke and couldn’t wait to bring others in for a shared laugh. He loved Popeye and the Three Stooges, fishing, golfing, cooking, and tinkering in the garage while classic rock or blues music flowed from his radio. The arrival of his PAPA CLAY licence plate was a promise to his grandkids that they were about to be spoiled with candy, laughs, and boundless uncritical love.

His last months were spent in the care of the lovely people in the 7 West and B3 South wards (whose tender treatment of Bruce is so deeply appreciated) at Hamilton General, where he grew to be a local legend who everyone knew by name (either Bruce or Popeye). Always maintaining his sense of humour, Bruce would never miss an opportunity to purposefully trigger a proximity alarm with his security bracelet or his bed alarm to keep the staff on their toes. In a space where patients often stay for less than a week, Bruce became a semi-permanent resident of 7 West and, inescapably, a permanent resident in the staff’s hearts. It was impossible to resist Bruce’s innate charm; to know him was to love him, and to see him smile was to feel the warmth of the sun.

A celebration of Bruce’s life will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2025, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the Bronte Legion located at 79 Jones Street in Oakville.

If you would like to make a donation in Bruce’s memory, you can go to https://hamiltonhealth.ca/ways-to-give/today/, select the Donate Now button, choose a donation amount, select Hamilton General Hospital from the dropdown menu, click the box that says “Dedicate this donation” and then in the comment box include that the donation is to be directed to 7 West in honour of Bruce Clay.