SCARBOROUGH – Dr. Bruce H. Thurlow, a life-long resident of Scarborough, passed away at his Pine Point home on Tuesday, February 15, 2022, surrounded by his family.  Bruce was born December 17, 1937, at his childhood home in Pine Point. He was Donald and Betty’s third of four sons who grew up together in a small, two-bedroom cottage on Jones Creek Drive. Donald and Betty taught their sons how to work hard, be men of good character, to place family first, and help others in need. They gave their boys the knowledge and skills for lobstering, clamming, fishing, and the ways of being successful in business.

Bruce graduated from Scarborough High School in 1956 and was a standout basketball and baseball player. He was involved in several service groups and was President of the SHS College Club. Bruce acted in several performances by the Drama Club including one notable show in which he played the lead with his first cousin Dianne Ridlon McLellan.

Inspired by his favorite teacher, Marguerite Lary, Bruce enrolled in Gorham State Teachers College after high school to become an educator. He was the first person in his family to attend college.  Bruce played college soccer and baseball, was involved in college debating and other activities. Bruce graduated in 1960 and earned his first teaching position at Jack Junior High School in Portland.

Throughout high school and college Bruce lobster-fished and dug worms and clams for a living, but he had other plans for his future. Bruce and his loving wife of 62 years, Marguerite “Peggy” Thurlow, met as young teens and were together all through high school.  Peggy was one year ahead of him in school, and in May of her senior year she was named “Queen of the Confetti Ball.” Bruce was named King! In his yearbook Bruce poetically wrote his life goals for his graduation picture: “A successful career, a happy life; A certain Beauty Queen for a wife!” Bruce pursued those goals and achieved them well by any measure.  They married on April 18, 1959, and had three sons, Michael, John and Jeffrey.

Bruce and Peg rented a house in Blue Point for a brief time, then bought their home of 50 years on Jasper Street. Michael was born in 1960 followed by identical twins John and Jeff eighteen months later. Jasper Street was a wonderful neighborhood for their young family. Their boys had a magical childhood and have vivid memories of a carefree life there with lots of friends.

Bruce became a successful teacher and was destined to help young people in a different way. He applied for a grant to enroll in the master’s degree program in counseling at the University of Maine in Orono. He received the grant; they rented their house and moved their young family to university housing next to the campus in 1967. Peggy went to work for the University part-time while Bruce studied, and the boys attended elementary school. Michael was beginning second grade and the twins would start Kindergarten. The family spent four wonderful years in Orono.

Bruce had excellent mentors at the University and, just like Mrs. Lary years before, they could see that Bruce was someone incredibly special. He was urged to extend his time at UMO after he earned his Master’s in Counseling and Psychology. Bruce stayed, studied, and published his dissertation to earn a Doctorate Degree in Psychology. His degree made him eligible for a license as a psychologist which opened other doors for him.

Upon returning from Orono in 1971 Bruce began work as a guidance counselor at Cape Elizabeth High School.  A few years later, the Cape Elizabeth School Board needed an interim superintendent and Bruce was asked to take the post. He had no experience in administration but had that degree and was immensely popular with students, parents, and faculty. The school community was so impressed with him that year that they decided not to hire a new superintendent, and Bruce stayed in that post for the next 20 years.  Bruce also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine teaching psychology & counseling theories to graduate students.

After his retirement from Cape, Bruce was recruited by three area school districts to serve as interim superintendent. During those three years he opened his psychology practice at the Scarborough Professional Center, the former State Police Barracks on Route one which his brother, Donny, had recently purchased and renovated into an office building. Bruce later opened a tutorial center, the Southern Maine Learning Center, for students with special needs who struggled in traditional school. That business grew into a small private school Bruce named “The Day School” which was for children ages 10 to 18 who needed a vastly different setting and approach for their education.

Peggy and Bruce were enthusiastic dancers for more than 30 years and traveled all around the Northeast for dance events.  Together they attended and supported all their children and grandchildren’s activities over the years.  They took great pride in their sons’ choices of careers in the helping professions; Mike as a businessman, firefighter, and later Scarborough Fire Chief; John, a teacher and school principal at Blue Point Primary School; and Jeff a PA and then a surgeon in York and Newburyport.

In retirement Bruce continued to go fishing with his sons, enjoying his grandchildren, and giving back to his community. He served as a trustee of the Scarborough Public Library and co-chair of the library expansion campaign 20 years ago.  He also served on the boards of Project Grace, the Friends of the Scarborough Marsh, and the Scarborough Historical Society. It was there he devoted a great deal of his time giving schoolchildren tours of the museum and telling stories of the past, one his greatest gifts.

Bruce was an author of many historical articles about the estuary and on lobstering and clamming, both for the Maine State Library and the Scarborough Historical Society. He created a place-names map of the rivers and bay surrounding Pine Point which captured the interesting names fishermen and clamdiggers use to identify them, some passed on over many generations but not recorded. He also published articles in “Scarborough at 350: Linking the Past to the Present” in 2007 which commemorated Scarborough’s 350th anniversary.

Bruce spent seven years compiling his own memoire and collection of historical photos of the place he was born and loved so much… Pine Point. His book, “Recollections of Pine Point” by Bruce Thurlow will be published this year and available on Amazon and at the Historical Society with proceeds benefitting that wonderful town institution.

Bruce was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. He and Peggy were looking forward to the birth of their first great-grandchild. Aurora Rose Thurlow, expected to arrive on Easter, the very first little girl born to Bruce’s family. She’s the daughter of Bruce’s first grandson, Michael Brian Thurlow and his wife Jessica LaRose Thurlow.

Bruce was predeceased by his mother Beatrice Googins Thurlow, his father Donald Howard Thurlow of Pine Point, two brothers and their wives, Donald & Cecilia Berry Thurlow and David & Marilyn Hamilton Thurlow, brother Fred, nieces Brenda Thurlow Wilson and Jodine Millett Discatio, a nephew Robert “Bobby” Valente, and father-in-law Michael A. D’Amico.

Bruce is survived by his wife, Peggy; three sons; Michael, his wife Malvina Lanasse, and their son Michael Brian & daughter-in-law Jessica; John, his sons Benjamin & Andrew, and their mother Susan Callahan Thurlow; and Jeffrey, his sons Danny & Ryan, and their mother Linda Thurlow; sister-in-law Emma Gochie Thurlow, “adopted” daughter Chris Hillman, many cousins, nieces and nephews in the Thurlow, Googins and Kelly families, his very close friend, Dale Doucette of Portland, and countless students, clients, faculty and school leaders, and friends.

Peggy is thankful to her siblings, Mickey D’Amico, Donna D’Amico Valente and Ann-Marie D’Amico Libby, dear friend Kathleen Bayley and Cousin Dianne McLellan for their support. The family is grateful to Bruce’s outstanding caregiver, Stephanie, for her devotion, and to Hospice of Southern Maine.

Springtime services will be held Saturday, May 21, 2022. Visiting hours will be 10-12 am at Hobb’s Funeral Home in Scarborough followed by a mass at 1:00 pm at St. Maximilian-Kolbe Church in Scarborough, and interment at Scarborough Memorial Cemetery.

Memorial donations in Bruce's memory may be made to one of the many groups he was active in: Project G.R.A.C.E, the Scarborough Historical Society, Friends of the Scarborough Marsh, Scarborough Public Library Building Campaign, Scarborough Fire Department, Hospice of Southern Maine, or to a special charity of your choice.