Bruce Harvey Roof

Bruce Harvey Roof, age 83, passed away at Comfort House in Pella on April 19, 2025.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Knoxville
First United Methodist Church. Family will receive friends prior to the service beginning
at 9:00 a.m. at the Church. Interment will be at the Graceland Cemetery. Pierschbacher
Funeral Home in Knoxville is assisting the family with the funeral arrangements.
Memorials may be sent to the First United Methodist Church in Knoxville or to the
Knoxville High School scholarship fund (Bruce and Alice Roof Family Scholarship).
Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 23, 1942, to Mike and Lila (Smith)
Roof. He lived in Bird Island, MN for a short time before the family moved to Adair, Iowa.
Following graduation from Adair High School in 1960 he attended Tarkio College,
Tarkio, Missouri and received a BS degree. He went on to earn an MS degree and a
Specialist in Education Degree from Drake University.
While at Tarkio College Bruce met a girl named Alice. They were friends, then special
friends, and soon engaged. They married on June 1, 1963, in Fonda, Iowa. They had 2
children, Mike and Joe. Bruce taught at Richmond, Mo. and Guthrie Center, Iowa, and
then was a high school principal in Pomeroy, Iowa. In 1969 he accepted the position of
assistant principal at Knoxville High School, Knoxville, Iowa. He held that position until
he retired in 1997. He enjoyed working with wonderful administrators, faculty, and staff
and all the students during his career.
In “retirement” Bruce sold real estate with Iowa Realty until 2022. He loved finding the
right house for the right family and putting together a deal for clients wanting to sell their
homes.
Bruce loved the outdoors. He and the boys enjoyed hunting, whether it be for turkey,
deer, ducks/geese, it didn’t matter, it was the fellowship that was important. He could
spend hours fishing, even if the fish were not biting. He usually came home with a meal
of fish and lots of stories!
Bruce got so much enjoyment from spending time with his family. He never tired from
joking around with the grandkids and having fun with them. He took many camping trips
with family and friends and great memories were made.
Bruce was always willing to help Alice with the yard and her many gardens. She always
did the planting and maintaining of the gardens, but he did all the heavy lifting—fences,
walls, etc. They were a good team. There wasn’t a thing he couldn’t fix, a tool he didn’t
have or a good deal he didn’t know about.
Bruce is survived by his wife Alice, sons Mike (Jill) and Joe (Dianne), and grandchildren
Kayla, Kevin (Camille), Drake, and Noah, his brothers Dennis (Sherrill) and Tom (Linda),
sisters-in-law Carol Wahlgren (Carl) and Pam Dennison, and brother-in-law Clark
Ogden as well as many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mike and Lila Roof.