American Honda's Bruce Ogilvie
Passes
April 4, 1952 - April 13, 2009
Torrance, CA (4/16/2009) - Bruce
Ogilvie passed away on April 13, 2009 after a
two-year battle with cancer. Ogilvie fought cancer
the same way he raced motorcycles all his life:
with everything he had.
Most enthusiasts know Bruce Ogilvie as a master
Baja racer—a champion whose personal victories
in the San Felipe 250, Baja 500 and Baja 1000
spread out over four decades. The first was a
Baja 500 win in 1975, with another victory in
the 1000 later that year. Bruce was the only man
in history to win the Baja 1000 overall in four
different decades, and he posted his last overall
win in 2003 at the age of 51. Bruce Ogilvie was
as tough as they come.
Bruce O’s talents and accomplishments behind
a handlebar are indisputable and well known. But
there was another side to Ogilvie that was equally
impressive. For more than 20 years, Bruce was
in charge of coordinating Honda’s racing
efforts in Baja. He led an army of racers and
support team members for years while he applied
his own personal philosophy to the challenge.
In 1984, Bruce was hired full-time at American
Honda. He served in many capacities over the years.
In addition to being in charge of everything off-road
at Honda—including motorcycle and ATV racing—Bruce
was most recently the Senior Test Evaluator for
Honda’s Product Evaluation department. In
this role, Bruce’s contributions to the
direction and development of all Honda’s
off-road and motocross products was unparalleled.
If you can’t imagine racing or riding anything
but your Honda off-road motorcycle or ATV, it
is because Bruce Ogilvie helped make it that way.
A Web site in honor of Bruce's life is in the
works so people can contribute thoughts, stories
and pictures. This tribute will allow all
of us the opportunity to share our feelings and
life memories we have had with him, and this site
can be here forever so we never forget all this
great man has done for us.
Godspeed Bruce. You will always be remembered
as our leader with that calm, assuring voice in
our head guiding us through obstacles you conquered
long ago.
Bruce Ogilvie was born on April 4, 1952. He died
on April 13, 2009. He is survived by his wife
Marcia, his 14-year-old son Nick and nine-year-old
daughter Isabella. Bruce's family will have a
private service, and because blood transfusions
were so important to Bruce’s battle with
cancer for the past two years the family has asked
for people to donate blood in Bruce’s honor.
More information will be available about blood
donations soon. Cards can be sent to American
Honda, 1919 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90501,
attention Bruce Ogilvie.
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