Ex- NLR alderman Foutch dies at 63

Bruce Foutch, a North Little Rock alderman for the city’s Ward 3 from 2011 through the end of last year, died Wednesday night from cancer, said his wife, Janet Foutch.

Bruce Foutch, 63, announced last March that he wouldn’t seek re- election this past November because of bone- marrow cancer and the treatments he underwent limited his activities and caused fatigue. He still regularly attended North Little Rock City Council meetings until his term ended in December.

His health worsened in recent weeks, and he was moved to hospice care Sunday.

“He fought this sickness and was able to continue to give 100 percent until the day he went out of office,” North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said of Foutch. “He’s the epitome of a truly dedicated servant. Ward 3 lost a good man.”

Foutch’s health led him to retire in late October 2015 from his job as contract services director at Pathfinder Inc., where he had worked since December 1994. Stopping the full- time job, he said then, allowed him to have the strength to attend more neighborhood meetings and regularly take part in City Council meetings as alderman. As his strength declined, Foutch used a walker to help him get around.

“He didn’t miss a lick,” Smith said. “He would go and have those blood transfusions, then still have the energy to come to council meetings and to do his homework. He was a pretty special guy.

“He understood the challenges we have in running a business as big as our city,” Smith said. “And his experience with his personal job gave him a step up on everybody because he had people to manage and budgets to meet in that job, so he brought that experience to the council chamber.”

Foutch was elected to be an alderman in a March 2011 special election to fill an open seat, winning a runoff. He was elected to a full four- year term in November 2012, also in a runoff.

In 2014, about midway through that term, Foutch was diagnosed with bone- marrow cancer. In announcing his decision a year ago not to run for a second term, Foutch said he knew he couldn’t give his constituents “my 100 percent effort” because of his declining health.

“So it would not be fair to ask them to vote for me and then look the other way when I can’t perform my duties,” he said in a later interview.

Alderman Steve Baxter, also of Ward 3, saw firsthand how Foutch persevered through his illness to continue his work as an alderman.

“Fortunately, we’re not NBA players,” Baxter said, referring to some National Basketball Association players who have been criticized recently for sitting out games. “We don’t take games off.”

Born in Biloxi, Miss., Foutch graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1972. He served in the U. S. Navy, leaving service as a chief petty officer after 20 years in December 1994. As a veteran, he will be buried Monday with military honors at the State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.

“I think as a GI, with that experience he had, he knew it’s about serving others and just battling through,” Baxter said, adding that he’d seen many accolades about Foutch from residents Thursday, which showed “what kind of man he was and the job he did for the citizens of Ward 3 and of the city.”

“They knew that even though he was struggling that he was making strides to keep doing what he had done until he had become sick,” Baxter said.

After Foutch decided not to run for re- election, Ron Harris was elected to the open alderman’s position in November and took office Jan. 1.

In his last City Council meeting Dec. 27, Foutch thanked his fellow aldermen and city staff members for their service to the city.

“It’s been a real honor, and my privilege, to serve with all of you and serve all of you in the city,” Foutch said.