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Bruce Andrew Merino, 73, former Western Division president of The Home Depot, Fullerton, Ca., passed away on June 20.
After graduating from San Diego State University, Bruce joined Handyman, San Diego, Ca., in 1972, working his way up to merchant. In 1984, he was hired as the first associate of Home Depot's western division, helping to open its first store and developing its initial merchandising programs, store layouts, and pricing and marketing strategy. He was named divisional merchandising manager in 1989, VP-merchandising in 1995, senior VP-merchandising, Western Division president in 1999, and president of the Expo Design Center division in 2005.
He retired in 2009 and soon after became a member of the board of directors for Universal Forest Products, where he served for 15 years.
Bruce was also an entrepreneur where he co-founded KBLED in which he was deeply involved until his passing. In addition to his professional life, Bruce was an avid philanthropist where he passionately raised and donated money to The City of Hope Foundation for decades.
Despite these accomplishments, his pride and joy was his family. Some of his favorite things in life included golfing, cooking, rooting for the Padres, and spending time with his grandchildren by the pool listening to yacht rock. Bruce is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Marie, three daughters, Angela (Ted) Curtis, Gina (Brian) Dufault, and Chiara (Ryan) Doliver, four grandchildren, Monique Dufault, Madeleine Dufault, Nicolas Curtis, and Sofia Curtis, his two sisters Marta Wreden and Nancy (Mark) Routh, and his many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Albert and Marina Merino and his three brothers Albert, Mark, and David.
