Relatives and school officials remembered Bruce for work that reached beyond his classroom into coaching, mentoring, faith and writing.
MILWAUKEE — The death of longtime special education teacher Harry Odele Bruce is being felt across a Milwaukee school community where relatives and colleagues say he spent years teaching, coaching, tutoring and mentoring young people.
Bruce, 56, died Thursday evening after an assault near North 12th and West Walnut streets. A 22-year-old man was taken into custody, and Milwaukee police said the circumstances leading to the assault remain under investigation. While detectives work to determine what happened, Milwaukee Public Schools and Bruce’s family have described a life built around education, service and efforts to help others.
Bruce taught special education at Roosevelt Middle School for more than a decade. His sons, Kylon and Lorenzo Boothes, told TMJ4 that their father had worked there for more than 10 years. Milwaukee Public Schools said Bruce also served as a football coach, tutor and mentor to students during his years at Roosevelt.
Principal Tiffany Fisher described Bruce as a “pillar of the Roosevelt community” in a message to families. She said his presence would be deeply missed by students and employees. The district’s Crisis Response Team went to Roosevelt on Friday to assist students and staff members dealing with his death.
Bruce’s sons said his involvement with students frequently continued after the school day ended. They recalled him helping young people get home, taking students to football practice and using his own money when someone needed help. Kylon Boothes described his father’s outlook simply: “He always worked to help everybody else.”
His family said that same commitment shaped other parts of Bruce’s life. He was active in his faith, served as a minister and taught Sunday school, his sons said. They remembered him getting up early to pray and spending time serving through his church. At home, they described him as a father who cooked, joked with his family and regularly encouraged them.
Bruce also wrote poetry. His sons said he published a book titled It’s About Time, drawing on different parts of life in poems intended to help readers through challenges. Those interests made writing and faith additional parts of a life that his relatives said was largely focused on serving other people.
The family told TMJ4 that Bruce was not the biological father of Kylon and Lorenzo Boothes but had raised them as his own. They recalled family trips, basketball games and conversations about faith. Their memories added a personal dimension to the picture offered by school officials, who knew Bruce through his years of work with Roosevelt students and families.
According to his sons, Bruce had been traveling to help someone move Thursday and was headed toward a bus stop before the assault. Police have not publicly confirmed that account or explained what led to the encounter. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Bruce after his death, while police continued to investigate the sequence of events.
The 22-year-old man taken into custody has not been publicly identified, and authorities had not announced charges as of Saturday. Police said the case would be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for possible charges. Investigators have not announced a motive or said whether Bruce knew the man before the assault.
For Roosevelt, the immediate response has centered on supporting students and employees while the criminal investigation proceeds separately. Bruce’s family has emphasized his years as a teacher, coach, minister, writer and father as the school community processes the loss of an educator who had become part of daily life at Roosevelt.
Author note: Last updated November 7, 2026.