Mary Watson-Bruce has called UC Irvine home since 1971 – as an alum, gerontologist, community advocate and faculty spouse. But over the last several decades, she has been quietly building a legacy, one modest gift after another, year after year, to programs and departments that speak to her heart. Now the total impact of that philanthropy surprises even her.

Watson-Bruce arrived in Irvine with her husband, Dickson (Dave) Bruce, a scholar of American history who had landed a tenure-track job in what was then the comparative cultures program. Their romance is itself a bit of American history: They met as college students in Texas – he a white man and she a Black woman – two years before the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision solidifying the right to interracial marriage.

At UC Irvine, surrounded by academics, Watson-Bruce wasn’t content being simply a “faculty wife.” She wanted to conduct research and gain expertise in her own right. So she enrolled in the social sciences doctoral program, graduating in 1982 with an emphasis in gerontology. “My grandmother was a midwife and a Methodist minister, and she meant the whole world to me,” Watson-Bruce says. “She’s the reason I went into the study of aging.”

She put that degree to work as UCI Health’s associate director of geriatric medicine for a decade, helping to establish the Health Assessment Program for Seniors, which continues to thrive. Even beyond her job, Watson-Bruce advocated for health and housing in Orange County, serving on the boards of the Alzheimer’s Association; the Irvine Senior Foundation; the Volunteer Center of Orange County, now OneOC; and Irvine Housing Opportunities, today called Innovative Housing Opportunities. Her impact on the development of affordable senior housing and senior day care facilities in Irvine earned her official recognition from the city, including being inducted on its Wall of Recognition in Colonel Bill Barber Marine Corps Memorial Park.

While Watson-Bruce’s professional life focused on aging and health advocacy, music has been a lifelong passion, passed down from her mother, grandmother and great-grandfather. In 1997, she and several church friends co-founded the Orange County Women’s Chorus. The 60-member group is still going strong today, with Watson-Bruce joining them to sing alto on tours in Wales, Canada and Croatia – plus two performances at New York City’s storied Carnegie Hall.

When Dave Bruce died in 2014 after a brief illness, Watson-Bruce and their daughter, Emily, decided to honor his 37-year career on campus, during which he had mentored countless graduate students, served as associate dean of graduate studies, and directed the program in comparative cultures before it was absorbed and he joined the history department. They established the Dickson Bruce Dissertation Award Endowed Fund, with gifts from friends, colleagues and former students. Later, Watson-Bruce started using her mandatory annual IRA withdrawals as tax-free contributions to grow the fund – as well as to support other causes close to her heart. Through a bequest, she plans to donate an even larger sum to bolster the legacy in her husband’s name.