Scientist, patriot, beloved husband, father, brother, and son, Bruce was born on Long Island in 1950 to Ruth Payne Hellmann, renown lace expert and volunteer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Reinhard Kirchberger Hellmann, an electrical engineer with the Hazeltine Corporation. Bruce attended public school but also enjoyed chemistry programs at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, CT and studied physics at Weslyan University in Middletown, CT. He attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY but transferred to New York Institute of Technology where he graduated with honors. While enrolled at the University of Mississippi, where he earned a Master's degree in physics, he met and married Elizabeth Hunter Duke. The two moved to Tallahassee, FL where Bruce enrolled in Florida State University and became the last student of Nobel laureate P.A.M. Dirac, "the father of modern physics." Bruce earned a Ph.D. from FSU and moved to Hickory, NC where his first child, Tedd, was born. Two years later, the family moved to Springfield, VA where their daughter, Wendy was born. Bruce worked for the U.S. federal government from 1988 until 2014. He assisted with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops and for ten years taught a chess program in the public schools organized by his wife. His hobbies included chess (he was a member of the U.S. Chess Federation) and amateur radio. He was a life member of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). He loved the beach, especially the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he died tragically by drowning. He also loved children and animals, and was drawn to the ones with special needs. He loved old movies (especially Casablanca), science fiction (Star Trek, Doctor Who), corny jokes, and puns. He especially enjoyed cooking meals on the grill and having picnics. He loved to laugh, and his favorite work of fiction was "Alice in Wonderland," which he quoted with aplomb. Many of his colleagues referred to him as "jolly," and his favorite music was Swing from the 1940s. He enjoyed playing piano, especially Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" (all three movements) and Scott Joplin's rags, especially "The Entertainer" and "The Maple Leaf Rag." He had a keen interest in WWII history, and maintained a collection of warbird communications equipment ("command sets") in fine condition. He often relaxed by reading 19th century books on Riemannian geometry or books by the grandmasters of chess, especially Capablanca. Dirac once said that he had the unusual gift of being able to "see physics in three dimensions," which is why the Nobel laureate accepted him as a student. He leaves behind a loving wife and two children (Tedd is a computer scientist and Wendy is a classical musician); a sister, Margaret, who is also a scientist and musician; and her husband, Dale, a computer specialist. He is terribly missed.