Jack Bruce Carson
Jack Bruce Carson, an Ajijic snowbird and resident for more than 30 years, died June 29, six months short of his 90th birthday.
Born January 8, 1927, in El Reno, Oklahoma, Carson and his two brothers spent their first years with their parents living in a box car of the train that moved their father’s circus through the U.S. Midwest.
There are photos of the boys feeding baby tigers by hand that were contained in a child’s play pen. Carson could remember loading toddlers onto carnival rides and being fascinated by Sally Rand’s feathers. Their mother was a champion swimmer and was the high dive act.
Carson’s oldest brother, Andrew, went into the military, survived World War II and returned to write a book about his capture (“My Time In Hell”). Meanwhile, Carson and his younger brother David were sent to a Catholic boarding school.
Carson attended Fremont high school in Los Angeles, California and then university in Colorado where he played semi-pro football. He was married at 21 and had five children.
Carson’s work revolved around the propane gas industry. He worked for several companies, learning the business from the ground up. He and his family lived in Missouri for 15 years and he eventually started his own gas business in Houston, Texas.
Throughout the years of being a father and a businessman Carson found time to go to night school to feed his passion for learning. His personal interests were many, ranging from being an inventor, a coach of girl’s softball, an outdoorsman, and some political involvements. He excelled at being a stock investor, and had a strong desire to teach this skill to his family and friends.
Carson retired to Vancouver, Washington, where he loved fishing the Columbia river in his boat. He also had an artistic side, designing and building a beautiful Asian garden at his home.
As a snowbird in Ajijic, Carson started painting almost full time and joined the Ajijic Society of the Arts, winning his share of ribbons. He also went fishing for bass at Agua Milpa and has a lot of fishing buddies here who will miss him.
In early the 2000s Carson donated money to help build the Conalep school in the name of a young Mexican boy who had been influential in his life. Over the years he supported a number of students through school from early age to college.
Carson met his wife, Lee, in Ajijic and they married in 1996. The couple moved to lakeside full time in 2008.
Carson lived a full and active life until the day before he passed.
Carson leaves his wife Lee; two sons, David and Ned Carson; his daughter Lori Pettit and her husband Mike; and his stepson Craig McDaniel Carson. Two sons, Bruce and Peter, preceded him in death. There are three grandchildren: David Jr, Alicia Brown, and Bruce Carson, and five great grandchildren.
His wife, her three children and her sister, Pat Quigley, will all miss his love, wisdom and encouragement that had been so constant in their lives.
Ajijic will also miss Carson, for showing how great old age can look, and how vibrant it can be. His sponsorships, donations, contributions, enthusiasm and ambition will be a great loss to Mexico.