Lt. Walter "Bruce" Shelton

Lt Walter “Bruce” Shelton, age 71, passed away on December 4, 2022. Born on June 12, 1951, to Jim and Ruth Shelton and raised in Chagrin Falls. Bruce enlisted in the Army National Guard after high school and served for 6 years. He started his Fire career first with the Chagrin Falls Fire Department then East Cleveland. In March of 1981, Bruce started working for Cleveland “The Big City” Fire Department where he stayed for 30 proud years of service. He spent most of his career at Station 31, Fire Training Academy and the B.E.A.R.S. unit. During a blind date in 1978, Bruce met Diane Collins. After years of dating, they tied the knot on May 7, 1983 and soon became residents of Willoughby. In February of 1993 they became parents to Kevin. Bruce made the transition to parenthood very simple as Kevin became another person to teach and enjoy his hobbies with. His goal was to show Kevin how to make the best of life. Whether it was the weekly homemade test or teaching skills to become an NFL kicker. These were the skills and knowledge he felt were needed to reach his full life potential. Bruce was a man of many several hobbies and interests. Boating in Regattas on weekends at Pymatuning. He rode his bicycle across Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Wisconsin, and Ohio. He skied throughout his life and even learned to speed skate. He was an active outdoorsman, liked to camp and was a member of the hiking club. Enjoyed watching and photographing Great Lakes ships. Bruce's love of history and ships came together when he and Diane helped restore the William G Mather. Also, he was a model train enthusiast. His love of model trains included going to train shows and collecting different model trains and transformers. Through his career, hobbies or just being somewhere, Bruce was able to strike up a conversation with anyone. One would never know whether it was someone he knew or just another friendly face. In 2016, Bruce’s life started to change and the man everyone knew him as started to disappear. Bruce was diagnosed with an inherited form of FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration with Parkinsonism). While suffering from this disorder his independence and ability to do things slowly diminished. His gift of being a conversationalist slowly left him, progressing from being able to understand him to then becoming nonverbal. In addition, the ability of walking also progressed from needing assistance to becoming wheelchair-bound. While this disorder overtook his body, he never gave up and accepted all changes that took place over what became the last 8 years of his life. He was a member of many local organizations: Cleveland Touring, Hiking Club, Chagrin Falls Alumni, Model Train Association, Eagles of Chagrin Falls and Willoughby, Willoughby United Methodist Church, and a lifetime member of the Historical Society of Willoughby. Bruce was survived by his wife Diane (nee Collins) of 39 years; son Kevin (Rachel); sisters Nancy (Gerry) Farrow and Linda (Leigh) Woodall; sister-in-law, Debby Collins and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Jim and Ruth, and siblings James and Sharon (Harr). A celebration of life service will be held in the Spring of 2023. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration; online at www.theaftd.org Arrangements entrusted to the Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, Mentor, OH. Offer condolences at www.brunners.com.