Bruce Richard Roberts, age 71 of rural Ellendale passed away on Friday, October 24, 2025 at Mayo Health System-Mankato after a 4-month battle with cancer.
Bruce was born on December 4, 1953, in Albert Lea, MN the third child of Richard and Mavis (Nelson) Roberts. He attended Ellendale Public Schools and was known to friends as “Boo”. He learned from an early age the importance of hard work. Over the years, Bruce worked in meat processing at Farmstead, Hudson Foods, Schweigert and Select Foods. In addition to working full-time, he raised animals; mostly rabbits marketing them on KATE Radio’s call-in program “Party Line”. Bruce took great pride with planting and tending to large vegetable gardens with his mother Mavis and this past summer with his daughter Stacia and grandsons Rylan and Quinn. Bruce was an animal lover; always having a dog and feeding the stray cats that found their way to him on the small acreage near Geneva. He always had a beer or a pop to share with friends and family when they came to visit. Bruce also loved playing 500 Rummy card games with his family, usually being the one to get to 500 points first.
Bruce had four sons and a daughter; Shannon, Clint, Trevor, Travis and Stacia, nine grandchildren, four sisters and one brother; Julie, Marcia, Trudy, Mike and Kim.
He was preceded in death by his parents Richard and Mavis, his sister Trudy and his brother Mike.
Bruce’s family would like to thank the medical teams at Mayo-St. Mary’s Campus, Mercy One Mason City and Mayo Health System-Mankato for their compassionate care.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Bayview-Freeborn Funeral and Memorial Service in Albert Lea on Saturday, November 15th with visitation at 1pm and Memorial Service at 1:30pm.
Bayview Freeborn Funeral Home
Bayview Freeborn Funeral Home
Visits: 2748
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors