IMGA Personality of the Month, Bruce McCorkle
John Concannon – Publicity
I’m very happy to introduce my IMGA Personality of the Month, Bruce McCorkle. Bruce will be taking over as Publicity Chairman for IMGA, ending my 12-plus years of covering IMGA events and activities.
Bruce was born in Denton, Texas, in 1949 but grew up in Breckenridge, Texas, a small town of 6,000 people about 100 miles west of Dallas. He grew up hunting quail, squirrel, wild turkey, deer and, occasionally, rattlesnakes in the Llano, Texas, area. He attended Breckenridge High School and spent many hours both before and after school working in a small grocery store.
After high school, Bruce attended college for a year before volunteering to serve his country, continuing a family military tradition. Bruce’s grandfather was an infantry colonel who served in both World Wars and his father was liaison pilot in the European Theatre during World War II. Bruce, as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, was “lucky” enough to serve in Vietnam. Notable was his being a survivor of the Battle for Firebase Ripcord where 200 U.S. soldiers were killed. His battalion commander Col. Andre Lucas was awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously). Bruce learned three very important principles of life while in the service; lead from the front, not from behind; don’t ask anyone to do anything that you would not do; the little stuff matters. These three principles have served Bruce well throughout his life.
After his time in the service, Bruce attended Oklahoma State University, earning a degree in marketing in 1976. He joined Armstrong World Industries, and while participating in a training program in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Bruce met his future wife Carolyn Bacon who was also part of the training class. They married soon after and just recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Bruce spent most of his career in the publishing business with Chilton International and Hearst Publishing. He and Carolyn lived in Boston, Portland, Oregon, Chicago and just prior to moving to Sun Lakes in 2009, in Hudson, Ohio. They brought up two children, Matthew and Michelle, both successful adults in their own right. Prior to his retirement, Bruce had marketing responsibility for half the U.S. Canada and Puerto Rico for a division of Hearst Publishing.
Bruce has many varied interests, including playing guitar and singing in an acoustic band, bible study, reading and playing golf, and helps Carolyn with her international business. Most recently, Bruce is editing an instructional book on golf entitled, “Build and Repair Your Own Golf Swing.” The author, his neighbor Bill Cox, was a golf pro for over 50 years and is writing his book to pass on the wealth experience he accrued during that time.
Bruce has been a member of IMGA for about two years and really enjoys playing the Ironwood golf course, as well he should. Bruce won the 2017 Ironwood Cup completed in early February. Congratulations and best wishes, Bruce. May you enjoy many years of continued healthy retirement and reporting on IMGA events and activities.