Bruce Rochester
April 9, 1955 – March 13, 2025
Bruce Rochester passed away on March 13, 2025, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. He was only 69 years old. Bruce leaves behind his beloved wife Shari, his son Brian (Jordan Dempsey), daughter Kristin Dean (Blake Ratto), and grand-daughter Holly Ratto.
Bruce was born on April 9, 1955, in Healdsburg. After his father Alvie Rochester received a job offer in Lake County as a sheriff’s deputy, the family moved to Lower Lake. Bruce grew up there with his mother Dolores and sisters Barbara (Roy Gourley) and Linda (Ernie Ralston). Bruce played baseball, football, and wrestled for Lower Lake High. In 1973 he was voted Homecoming King.
Wishing to follow in his father’s footsteps, Bruce attended Santa Rosa JC and Sacramento State where he studied law enforcement. While going to school, he was a reserve deputy for Lake County. Bruce was in an awful crash while working there that took him well over a year to recover. Bruce’s drive to become a law enforcement officer helped him to deal with the pain and overcome his injuries.
Bruce landed his first job at Palos Verdes Estates, in Southern California. After having worked there for more than a year, he was hired by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office (SO), where he worked for 28 years. Bruce worked in almost every beat before getting promoted to detective in Property Crimes. After a stint there he was promoted to Sergeant and worked in patrol, property, and narcotics. Bruce would later promote to Lieutenant, where he worked patrol and detectives—this was his favorite assignment as he was in charge of property crimes, violent crimes, the coroner’s office, and narcotics. Bruce was very proud that he was a “Man in tan.” He was a leader amongst leaders.
While still working at the SO, Bruce began to teach at the Santa Rosa Junior College as well as Sonoma State University. He loved this job so much he continued to teach after retiring from the SO. Bruce was a very respected professor whom his students loved. A lot of deputies’ children took Bruce’s classes and were better prepared to join law enforcement because of what he shared.
Bruce’s son Brian, who made Bruce so very proud, also followed in his dad’s and granddad’s footsteps in law enforcement. Brian is currently working at the Napa County Sheriff’s Office. Brian was Bruce’s “pride and joy.” When Bruce talked about Brian, he was always aglow, as he loved to share what he had accomplished.
After retiring, Bruce would eventually marry the love of his life—Shari. Luckily for Bruce, he would also gain a loving daughter Kristin (who works for the Healdsburg Police Department). Bruce truly loved Shari and was so happy to have her in his life. Shari was also a blessing for Bruce for while his memory began to fade, Shari was always there to comfort, care, and adore him. Fortunately, Bruce had a moment of lucidness in the end and managed to tell Shari “I love you!”
Bruce left us way too early and we are all at a loss because of it. He was a great husband, father, brother, and friend. Bruce you are missed!!
A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at 2:00pm at St. John’s Catholic Church in Healdsburg with a reception following in the Parish Hall.
