Bruce W. Teele of Chelsea, MA, passed away March 23, 2018 after a long illness associated with Alzheimer’s. He is survived by his wife Marjorie of Salem, MA. Beloved stepfather of Matthew Wood, his wife Kim of Clermont, FL; Ethan Wood, his wife Jennifer Ulrich of Laconia, NH; Brendan Wood, his wife Mary of Malden, and 7 grandchildren; his brother Ralph, his wife Sheila of Cottonwood, AZ; his nieces Lynn Sawyer, Janet Proulx and nephew Jeff Teele.

Bruce served in the Army during the Vietnam era. He was a member of the Cambridge, MA Auxiliary Fire Department before attending Rowan Technical College in Salisbury, NC.

Bruce began his career with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in Quincy, MA. in 1969. He had a passion for the Fire Service and for Fire Fighters. He spent his entire 41-year career working on standards that directly affected the safety and welfare of Firefighters including the Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety, Health and Wellness (NFPA 1500) and the numerous documents on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Fire and Emergency Services. During his tenure at NFPA Bruce authored and coauthored several NFPA books.

Bruce was known for an unwavering sense of fairness and doing the right thing for the members of the fire service. He maintained an uncanny ability as an editor to take the rough text of firefighters, testing agencies, federal agencies, and manufacturers turning it into the “standards language” of an NFPA document, with meticulous precision with all of the “I’s” dotted and the “t’s” crossed.

He loved travel, fine wine, good beer, Italian food, and animals. Bruce’s knowledge of Switzerland and Italy was better than that of many locals and he developed numerous international friendships starting with his assignment in Germany while serving in the Army.

Bruce was a consummate host; meetings in the Boston area frequently included trips to the Teele house, the North End, or East Boston for Italian food, drink, and friendship. There are literally hundreds of stories that can be told of such trips.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Cinquecento, 500 Harrison Ave. in Boston on Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 1 to 4 pm.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to one of the following organizations or a charity of your choice;

Firefighter Cancer Support Network https://www.firefightercancersupport.org

Melrose Humane Society https://sites.google.com/site/melrosehumanesociety/

Alzheimer's Association http://act.alz.org/donate