Terrill Joseph Bruketta
Terrill entered Our Lord’s Kingdom on May 28 after suffering a sudden stroke three days earlier. His wife of 26 years will continue to carry on their family traditions in his absence. His life touched many people with kindness and warmth and sometimes with a Croatian attitude or pure engineering genius. . Terrill’s technical skills from automotive fix it to High Tech problem solving touched many during His life’s journey. His programming projects, years after his creation and retirement, are still running today at Raytheon and Seymour Duncan. It was at Raytheon that he met and knew Dorothy was the love of his life.
Born in Spokane, Washington, his family moved multiple times in his younger years. From Northwest, to MidWest off to the East Coast and finally California, he lived in seven different cities before his senior year in High School.. After graduating from Bishop Garcia Diego HS (Santa Barbara) in 1969 , he worked as the Ace Mechanic at the family Service Station in parallel with his job as Cashier for Alpha Beta. He joined the US Navy in 1972. Assigned to be a nuclear reactor operator. This billet was delayed and instead he served on the Kitty Hawk stationed out of Alameda, CA. After completing “ Navy Nuke School” in Idaho, he was assigned as an reactor operator on the Enterprise. His dossier of Ports of Call was extensive and his zeal for meeting and engaging different cultures was enormous. Never a sailor looking for a bar, Terrill sought better understanding of the people and places he went.
When on leave Stateside, he devoted much of His free time, helping family and friends with their projects from redwood fencing projects to being the family tourist guide of the San Francisco Bay Area.
After the Navy, Terrill attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He actually was pulled aside by the Mathematics Department chair and told no one had ever aced his mathematical skills and theory assessment in the 20 years he used it. He suggested Terrill should change majors. Terrill agreed to double major, but the university did not accommodate double majors. Post-graduation, Terrill found work at Raytheon in Santa Barbara.
His joys in life were found in his woodworking, art and computer programming projects. But his passion for the last 26 years was His love for Dorothy, and being with his grandchildren: Stepdaughter Stephanie and grandchildren Joseph, Jordan, Priscilla and Heaven.
Terrill was buried at Santa Barbara Cemetery on June 27 at 10:30am with family and friends attending. A Military Honor Guard presented Arms, played Taps and handed his wife a flag in honor of his service to our nation.
