James Brucks

James Brucks, 100, of White Plains, died on January 18, 2026 in New Rochelle, NY. James (Jim) Bell Brucks was born in Manhattan on July 29, 1925, the second of three sons of Lester Mayer Brucks and Lillie (nee Stettiner) Brucks. He was named James after his maternal grandmother Jenny and Bell after his paternal grandmother Belle Mayer Brucks. He was confirmed at Congregation Shaaray Tefila of the West End Synagogue in Manhattan.

Growing up in Manhattan Jim attended elementary school at P.S. 54 on Amsterdam Avenue and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1942. In high school he enjoyed swimming, basketball, and photography. His personal slogan in his high school year book was "Mine not to reason why; mine but to do - and do - and do."

Beginning in 1942 he attended Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont on the V-12 Navy College Training Program. Upon enlistment with the U. S. Navy in 1945, he participated in an experimental mission of long-distance ocean travel in a flotilla of LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank) from Hawaii to the Philippine Islands as Ensign of LCT 1105. During his tour of duty, he visited the Marshall Islands, Guam, Western Caroline Islands, and Okinawa prior to re-assignment to Shanghai, China. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. In 1946 Jim returned to Middlebury, graduating with a B.A. degree in economics. He met Iris Joan Forst (1927-2022) at Middlebury, and they married on June 30, 1948.

Jim began his business career as a buyer for Abraham & Straus in Brooklyn from 1947 to 1952. Later, he was Executive Vice President for Merlite Industries, Inc. and President and partner of Coronation Printing Co. He became General Manager of Vacuumatic North America, Inc. Vacuumatic portrayed him as "gentle, shrewd, and successful - a man we are proud to have as our top man in the USA." Leaving Vacuumatic in 1974, he became Eastern Branch Manager of Nu-Art Inc. in New York City. In the 1980s, he was Regional Sales Manager for Corporate Graphics International, a stationery company where he was lauded by his colleagues as "Gentleman Jim" for his affability and his empathetic approach in all his business dealings. He retired in 1999.

Jim enjoyed fine dining, music, and art as well as bridge and stamp collecting. He and Iris had an abundance of friends, and they enjoyed international travel, visiting China, Israel, Morocco, and Guatemala among many other countries. Jim and Iris were passionate about golf (Jim once played golf with baseball star Jackie Robinson). They joined the congregation of the Jewish Community Center of White Plains in 1967. Jim had a wry sense of humor, and he loved listening to the radio comedy duo Bob & Ray. In 2014, he participated in the Hudson Valley Honor Flight of veterans to Washington, DC. The following year he was interviewed on video about his Navy experience for the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. The link to the video is here: https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.98892/

More than anything else, Jim loved his family and was always available for them. He died five months after celebrating his 100th birthday. He is survived by two daughters and their husbands: Susan and David Rose and Nancy Brucks and Clinton Wolcott; granddaughters Lila Pierce and Katelyn Rose; grandsons Max and Ben Wolcott; and nine great-grandchildren.