Bruce H. McCausland, 92, ad executive, radio announcer, co-founder of Aurora Waldorf School

As a student, he organized faith-based groups in local colleges. He went on to work in radio and advertising, opened a health food store, devised a gas-saving accessory for automobiles and joined in starting private schools to encourage creativity in children.

In recent years, he brightened the days of other residents at his assisted living facility by putting together current events discussion groups and a weekly newsletter called “The Geezer Gazette.”

He died June 15 in Buffalo Veterans Affairs Medical Center after a brief hospitalization. He was 92.

Born in South Buffalo, Bruce Henderson McCausland was the third child of Walter McCausland, vice president of public relations for the International Railway Corp., which operated Buffalo’s trolley lines, and Imogene Robertson McCausland, a notable artist.

He grew up on Buffum Street in a converted barn on land that was once part of a celery farm operated by his great-grandparents, Allen and Emma Strickler. He attended School 70 and was a 1948 graduate of South Park High School, where he studied German and learned to play trumpet and violin with the school band and orchestra.

He enrolled at the University of Buffalo, where he was president of the Credo Club, a student Christian organization, and president of the Protestant Intercollegiate Council. He also was active in the New York State Student Christian Movement.

In 1950, he enlisted in the Air Force, trained in cryptography and was sent to Germany. He spent three years with the Air Force Security Service at Landsberg Air Base in Bavaria, first as a radio operator, then as an intelligence analyst. His roommate was country singer Johnny Cash.

Returning from service, he completed his bachelor’s degree in drama and speech at UB in 1956, did a year of postgraduate study at Syracuse University and came back to Buffalo to become an account executive and announcer at…