Dr. Bruce Clifton Stanton, age 71, passed away peacefully at St. John Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. He was surrounded by family and friends.

Bruce was born on June 28, 1947 in McAlester, Okla., the first child of Arthur, Jr. and Loeva (London) Stanton. He graduated a class salutatorian from McAlester High School in 1965, and, three years later, he graduated from the University of Oklahoma, Phi Beta Kappa, with special distinction. Bruce received his medical doctorate degree from OU in 1972 and completed his post graduate training in psychiatry at OU and the University of Texas, San Antonio, where he served as chief resident.

In 1968, Bruce married Frances (Welsh) Armstrong. Together, they had two sons, Todd Stanton in 1973 and Bryan Stanton in 1975. Bruce later married David Meuser. In addition to spending time with family and friends, he loved to read and travel, visiting numerous states in the U.S., along with France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico and other countries over the course of his life.

Bruce devoted his professional life to treating and helping those struggling with mental health problems, particularly military veterans. He began his career by working to develop the Audie Murphy Veterans Administration Hospital in San Antonio, where he later served as an attending psychiatrist. He returned to Oklahoma with his family in 1979 to serve as the director of psychiatric residency training and a clinical associate professor at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Medical College. He later served as a staff psychiatrist at Laureate Psychiatric Clinic. During his time in Tulsa, Bruce also enjoyed hospital appointments at Saint Francis Hospital, Hillcrest Medical Center, St. John Medical Center, Doctors' Hospital, and Shadow Mountain.

After moving to Oklahoma City in 1994, Bruce became a staff psychiatrist at Integris Mental Health/Willow View Mental Health System, serving patients at Deaconess Hospital, Midwest City Regional Hospital and at Integris-Baptist outpatient counseling center. One of his most rewarding endeavors was providing in-home mental health services to chronically ill patients while working as a staff psychiatrist for the Program for Assertive Community Treatment at Northcare in Oklahoma City and Stillwater.

In 2008, Bruce accepted an attending psychiatrist appointment from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. From 2010 until his retirement at age 70, he returned to providing mental health treatment to U.S. veterans, serving as a staff psychiatrist for both the Jack C. Montgomery Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Muskogee and the Ernest Childers VA Clinic in Tulsa. Throughout his career, Bruce contributed his time and knowledge to numerous medical associations.

Bruce is survived by his husband, David; his son Todd of St. Louis and his family, Natalie Kussart and daughters Harper, Amelia and Camella; and his son Bryan of Oklahoma City and his family, wife Jeanette, and sons Jackson and Collin. He is also survived by his brother Bradley of Broken Arrow and his wife Linda, his sister Gayla Howard and her husband Gary of Midwest City, and many nieces and nephews. Bruce was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Loeva.

Memorial services will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 501 S. Cincinnati Ave., Tulsa. The family will greet friends and others whose lives Bruce touched from 6:00-8:00 pm on Thursday, Oct. 25, at the Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel Funeral Home, 1402 S. Boulder Ave., Tulsa, and again at the church on Saturday from 1:00 p.m. until the time of the memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Bruce's name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, c/o Trinity Episcopal Church, 501 S. Cincinnati, Tulsa, OK 74103, or the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center's Willed Body Program, payable to OU Foundation and mailed to Willed Body Program, BSEB 100, P.O. Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73126-0901.

Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151