Bruce Tripp

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of retiree Bruce Tripp on May 9, 2023, at JML Care Center in Falmouth, while under hospice care. He was 80.

Born to Alice (Besse) and Walter Tripp and raised in Acushnet, Mass., on a farm, which provided training for his future vegetable garden, Bruce graduated from Acushnet High School, attended New Bedford Institute of Technology (now UMass Dartmouth,) and earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Rhode Island.

Bruce was married to his loving wife, Helen Elaine Tripp on July 4, 1964, after which the couple joined the U.S. Peace Corps and served in Cambuci, Brazil, from 1966 to 1968 where they taught children and parents to grow vegetables and raise rabbits for food.

Upon returning home, he and Elaine settled in Falmouth, where they raised their son, Aaron, often joining Aaron and Troop 38’s Scouts and parents on many hikes, camping, and canoe trips. They maintained strong bonds with their Peace Corps students and families, visiting them in Brazil and also hosting them in their Falmouth home.

In 1969, Bruce joined the WHOI, where he worked for 47 years and worked for the Chemistry Department and the Coastal Research Center. One of his first projects was working with WHOI Associated Director Bostwick H. Ketchum on The Coastal Zone Management Workshop leading to the influential book The Water’s Edge, MIT Press (1972). Bruce participated in several research cruises in the Western North Atlantic and numerous coastal research cruises. He authored and co-authored many scientific reports and papers focused on marine environmental quality issues. He also made many good friends while at WHOI, including visiting scientists from China, France, Japan, and Switzerland, who then hosted him and his wife in their countries over many years.

From 1985 to 1988, he took a leave of absence from WHOI to serve in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, having a key role in founding and coordinating the Buzzards Bay Project (now the US EPA-funded Buzzards Bay National Estuary program.) In 1993, he received the Buzzards Bay Guardian Award from the Coalition for Buzzards Bay noting Bruce’s cont

ributions to coastal issues. The award was presented “for outstanding service in the stewardship of this magnificent estuary entrusted to our care.”

Bruce served as a member of numerous scientific advisory committees, including the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Reserve and the Buzzards Bay Project. Bruce contributed his knowledge, writing, and sharp (as a knife) editing skills to many publications both for WHOI and other researchers. Notably, his assistance was acknowledged by the editor of a publication on The Ecology of Waquoit Bay, National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Bruce was a pioneer in Falmouth’s open space preservation efforts. In 1985 he spearheaded the town’s purchase of the Sea Farms property in Davisville and then became a co-founder of The 300 Committee Land Trust. Bruce was a persistent negotiator and he and Elaine tirelessly undertook any task to secure Town Meeting and voter approval of proposed open space acquisitions. His major contribution to open space preservation was recently acknowledged in the dedication of Elizabeth Saito’s book, Walking Falmouth: A Guide to Falmouth’s Best Nature’s Hikes.

Bruce was a Town Meeting Member for more than 25 years and served on the Falmouth Conservation Commission from 1983 to 1987, holding the position of chairman from 1985 to 1987. With Chris Clark, he drafted Falmouth’s wetland protection bylaws, which were adopted by Town Meeting in 1989. Additionally, he was an alternate member of the Barnstable County Coastal Resource Committee.

Bruce and his wife enjoyed visiting and sharing meals with friends and working in their large vegetable garden and preserving its bounty which they shared at Christmas with friends and family.

In 2007, he was predeceased by his wife of 43 years, H. Elaine (Craven) Tripp of Falmouth. He leaves his mother, Alice (Besse Tripp) Morse of New Bedford; his son Aaron B. Tripp and wife Carrie, of East Falmouth; his sisters, Nancy Tucker of Lakeville, and Diane Tripp and husband David Dennis of Acushnet. He also leaves many cousins, nieces, and nephews, as well as dear friends throughout Falmouth, the broader U.S. and beyond.

A private memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. In commemoration of his life, the family is making contributions in honor of Bruce Tripp to The 300 Committee Land Trust (mail to The 300 Committee, 157 Locust St., Falmouth, Mass., 02540), and the Woods Hole Public Library, where Bruce’s wife was librarian (Woods Hole Library, Librarian’s Recognition Fund, 581 Woods Hole Rd, Woods Hole, Mass., 02543). Others wishing to honor Bruce are encouraged to make donations to these organizations with a note of “in honor of Bruce W. Tripp.”

Information for this obituary is from the Falmouth Enterprise