Arthur Bryce Gribble

ELY, Nev. — Blessed are children whose parents exemplify the love and character traits which benefit all mankind. Even more blessed are those children whose siblings reflect and intensify these qualities. Such a brother and child of God was Arthur Bryce Gribble, who died Oct. 1, 2014, at his home in Ely.

Bryce was born in Ironwood, Mich., on Aug. 18, 1933, just 15 minutes shy of his brother’s first birthday. His parents, John N. and LaRue (Lobb) Gribble, were lifelong residents of the Gogebic Range and inveterate campers, fishermen, hunters and berry pickers.

Bryce early in life fell in love with the great outdoors, everything mechanical, and artistic expressions. This fascination led to such activities as building tree shacks in the woods near his childhood home and arming his cohorts with unripened chokecherries to be fired through reeds indigenous to the area; hunting birds with slingshots made from tree forks and rubber straps salvaged from old inner tubes (and later burying his prey in donut boxes) in order to properly display the corpses through the cellophane covers; constructing dams in local creeks to create fishing ponds and swimming holes; staging mock rodeos which utilized his larger playmates as simulated bulls and bucking broncs; and ogling the neighborhood girls who had been inspired by carnival shows to stage “Arabian Nights” harem dancing performances.

During his ensuing high school years at Luther L. Wright, Bryce was a member of the Red Devils football and track squads, and more significantly developed his skiing skills to the point where he could later qualify as a Pro Ski Patrolman at the Walt Disney-owned Sugar Bowl resort in northern California.

After graduating from high school, Bryce joined the U.S. Navy and served his tour of duty in North Carolina, attached to a lighter than air squadron assigned the task of detecting and tracking enemy submarines.

His hitch in the military completed, Bryce enrolled in the University of Minnesota at Duluth to pursue a degree in the arts. He scheduled his collegiate years to accommodate summers spent guiding for the wilderness canoe trails near the Minnesota-Canadian border and several winters patrolling the “Sierra Cement” of ski runs at the Sugar Bowl. In the summer of 1959, on a rare sunny day in Duluth, Bryce married a fellow student, Carol Apell, in her parents’ backyard.

His next adventure took Bryce and his bride to Schofield, Wis., where at the local high school he taught painting and sculpture, in addition to coaching the ski team. After three years, Bryce and Carol decided to take a year’s sabbatical and ventured west to Red Lodge, Mont., where they assisted Pete Sanders in running the Ski Trail Inn near the recently developed Granite Peak ski area.

After a year spent as a “married ski bum,” Bryce found that once again the classroom beckoned and he accepted an offer extended by the White Pine County School District in Ely to become the director of their art department. The counties in Nevada are huge and Bryce covered schools in the entire district and loved it. Bryce’s students admired him and respected the positive influence he made upon their lives; many of them became lifelong friends. No greater testimonial can be made to the worthiness of his life.

Bryce was preceded in death by his mother, father and infant brother. He is survived by his wife, Carol; daughter, Dawn Starr Pucket; granddaughter, Krystal LeAnn Pucket; sister, Jane (Dr. Burnell) Stripling; and brother, Jack (Mary) Gribble.

At Bryce’s request, no funeral is to be conducted. He advised all his many friends and relatives to “enjoy a cup of coffee and a gooey (cinnamon) roll, chew the fat and, reminisce about the good ‘ol days.”