A Remarkable Woman
I had the privilege of emceeing today's East Tennessee Victim's Rights luncheon. Our speaker was Jo Bruce, the widow of Ken Bruce, murdered last November by a student at Campbell County High School.
Jo is a remarkable woman. Less than six months after losing her husband to an unspeakable violent act, she spoke of hope. When her heart could've filled with the blackness of anger and revenge, she chose the light of forgiveness.
Her example of dignity and grace in the face of tragedy is one we will not likely see again for a long time.
She is a driven woman, driven to make a positive difference for the children of Campbell County and everywhere.
On the day of her husband's funeral, she made this pledge:
"I made a promise that day to make sure that Ken Bruce would always be remembered for the way he lived his life and not just for the way he died. I promised Ken that our family would in fact, be better, not bitter, and that we would do whatever was necessary to restore his school back to a place of learning and laughter and not a place of violence."
Jo Bruce lives that promise everyday. She's working with state lawmakers on the SAVE Act..Schools Against Violence in Education. She believes its passage can make a difference.
Comments
Please keep your comments civil and to the point. Posting comments is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse that privilege with profane, threatening or abusive language your comment will be deleted.
Comments
i think Mrs Bruce is a very
i think Mrs Bruce is a very strong women and i know Ken is very proud of her for the things she is doing to help the children of campbell county, i AGREE that the LaFollette elementary school should be named after Ken Bruce, he was a very special man and the children in school loved him. He gave his life for those kids and the school board just turned their back on his memory. well i know now that i voted for the wrong school board members but i wont make that mistake again.i just want to tell the school board enjoy it while you can because come next election your outta there. the kids he helped and looked after are now at voting age and im sure after most of the parents are done with you come next election you can look back and say what a mistake you made for being rude to the graduate and the senior who spoke on what the kids of cambell county wanted and that was to celerbrate his life and for this man to always be remembered. all i have to say is SHAME on all of you. and by the way i hope the unemployment line isnt to long after your voted out, And one last thing i have to say is im ashamed of all of you for the way you treated Jo bruce. she is a wonderfull women who lost her husband the dreadfull day in november and you the school board didnt even care. but Campbell county cares. we love you Mrs bruce, and the sacrafice was way to high for the school board to just push you and the students aside . on behalf of cambell county i would like to say im very sorry and im sorry i live in this county with such insenciative people who are running our school system.