In college football, Bruce Priem is best known as the 1968 and 1969 starting quarterback of the Azusa Pacific University (Azusa, Calif.) Cougars. But, he has Saxons and Wildcats in his background, too. At South Salem, Ore., High School – Bruce is a member of the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame as a three-sport (football, basketball, baseball) athlete – he played football for Linfielder Marv Heater, the South Salem Saxons head coach. Former Linfield football player Sonny Jepson, Linfield Class of 1973, was one of his high school football teammates.
After graduating from South Salem in 1966, Bruce studied at Linfield for two academic years (1966-67, and 1967-68) and was a Wildcat junior varsity QB. He transferred from Linfield to Azusa and was the Cougars’ starting quarterback. Bruce is in the Azusa football record book for throwing six touchdown passes in a game.
(By the way, John Tully, Whitworth University head football coach, was Azusa’s starting quarterback 1971-1974.)
How did Bruce, was an outstanding athlete, become an artist?
An artistic inspiration was his dad, Roy Priem, a graphic artist, cartoonist and sign painter in Salem. "I always did a lot of sketching and doodling," Bruce said, "I learned a lot from my father."
Similar to a coach encouraging an athlete, his dad told his son, "you need to practice more!" Art was "enjoyable for me," Bruce said, "but no way was I doing to be as good as my father. He had serious talent." At Linfield, Bruce took some art classes. His teachers were art faculty members Peter Teneau and Randall Jelinek, also art department chair. Bruce remembers his Linfield football coach, Paul Durham, had Teneau football (a fake draw screen) and Jelinek (a draw) plays.
.jpg)
Bruce’s artistic talent came to the attention of Rick Pullen, a Linfield sports information director, and Tim Marsh, a Linfield Review student newspaper sports editor. They commissioned him to do pen and ink drawing from black & white photos. The first drawing, of Ted Wilson, Linfield men’s head basketball coach, appeared on the cover of the 1967-68 Linfield men’s basketball media guide. His drawings of football players Mike Barrow, Rogers Ishizu and John Sadowski, and Bob Haack and Bob Laycoe were used in the newspaper’s sports section and/or home game football printed programs. He also wrote sports stories for the Review. The Barrow drawing is on a football card issued as part of the Linfield 2011 football season dedication of the Mike Barrow study room in the college’s Nicholson Library.
After graduating from Azusa in 1970, Bruce earned a master of science degree in physical therapy from the University of Southern California. He is a licensed physical therapist in the state of Oregon.
Today, Priem lives in Salem, where he is a physical therapy-occupational therapy department manager at Kaiser Permanente in Salem. Bruce and his wife, Mary, are active in their church. In the summer of 2012 they traveled to Honduras and worked in an orphanage. It was a return to that country and the Dominican Republic where they lived and worked as short term missionaries for World Gospel Crusades, 1970-72.
Photo information: Bruce & Mary Priem and Bob Haack during a 2012 football season visit to the Mike Barrow Study Room in the Linfield library. Priem sketches: -Bob “Igor” Haack and Bob “Heavy Duty” Laycoe in the Oct. 19, 1967, Linfield Review. -Rogers Ishizu and John Sadowski, Linfield players from Hawaii. -Coach Ted Wilson on cover of 1968 winter sports media guide. -Mike Barrow on card given out at Mike Barrow Study Room dedication fall 2011. -Priem bylined article in Oct. 19, 1967, Linfield Review.
