2008
Bruce Daniel Garber, 78, who was the lead weapons engineer for the U.S. Navy SEALs, died March 10 of prostate cancer at the
Elizabeth House hospice in Flat Rock, N.C. He had lived in Hendersonville, N.C., since 2002.
Mr. Garber was born in Toledo and raised in Washington. After graduating from Wilson High School, he attended Virginia Tech
for two years before entering the Air Force in 1950. He was discharged in 1954 and returned to Virginia Tech, graduating with a
bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He spent several years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
in Laurel before joining the Naval Surface Weapons Center (then the Naval Ordnance Laboratory) in White Oak.
He was a design engineer on a program to develop a submarine-based missile and later was the lead engineer on the
weapons program for the Navy SEALs. After retiring in 1985, he worked for several years with Vitro Corp. in Rockville.
Mr. Garber lived in Bethesda, Silver Spring and Colesville before moving to North Carolina. He enjoyed golf.
His marriage to Eleanor M. Garber ended in divorce.
Survivors include two sons, Daniel T. Garber of Charlotte and Darrin G. Garber of Ocean City; a sister, Lynn Garber Barclay of
Bethesda; and three grandchildren.
-- Matt Schudel