Bruce Robert Anderson, 72, an avid sailor who was in the first wave of high-tech executives, died on Jan. 27 at his home in Harvard surrounded by his family. The cause was pulmonary fibrosis.

Bruce is survived by his wife of 50 years, Dodie (Hayes) Anderson; his son William of Harvard; his daughter, Dr. Katherine Anderson of Penn Yan, N.Y.; his son Jon, daughter in law Christina Yoo and grandchildren, Henry and Annelise, all of Harvard; his sister in law Pamela Sacks and her husband, James Sacks, of Worcester; his sister in law Mary Hayes of Los Angeles; his brother in law, William Congleton, of Hampden, Me., and his nieces, Christina Congleton and Johanna Congleton.

Bruce was predeceased by his parents, Robert and Jean Anderson, and his sister, Nancy Congleton.

Bruce was born Dec. 16, 1940 in New York city. He spent much of his childhood in Darien, Conn., and was a graduate of Darien High School. He received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Tufts University in 1962 and then served from 1962 to 1963 in the United States Coast Guard Reserve. He earned an M.B.A. From Harvard Business School in 1966. During his time at Harvard, he co-authored a book titled The Future of the Computer Utility. Bruce was a manufacturing and operations manager for more than 20 years at Digital Equipment Corporation in Maynard. In 1987, he and Dodie moved to Geneva, Switzerland, after he was asked to play a key role in setting up manufacturing plants for DEC in Switzerland, England and Germany. They returned from Switzerland in 1991.

Bruce left DEC in 1994 and joined various high-tech companies in Massachusetts and California, where he and Dodie resided for 14 years. He ended his career as senior vice president of operations at Remick Corporation in San Diego.

Bruce’s career took him to all parts of the world, but his heart was firmly planted o n Martha’s Vineyard. He first set eyes on the Island in the 1950s, from the vantage point of a friend’s sailboat. It was love at first sight. He built his beloved vacation home on Peases Point Way in Edgartown in 1993. Nothing gave him more pleasure than spending summer days at the Edgartown Marina hanging out with his buddies, always with his son Bill at his side. He loved fishing at Wasque and the “Gut” with his children and grandchildren. Most of all, he loved being around the water.

Bruce was an accomplished boat builder and restorer, as well as an expert model ship builder. Among his various accomplishments, he restored a 1939 Pacific Class racing boat, the Azora, which sailed out of the Silver Gate Yacht Club in San Diego.

Bruce was a longtime volunteer organizer of the Junior Program at the Silver Gate Yacht Club, where he took pleasure in teaching and mentoring young sailors.

A private memorial service will be held at a future date.