[Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] joefso:
I found a remove bloatware script in a gapps thread http://xdaforums.com/android/software/gapps-google-apps-minimal-edition-t2943330 . This does what I wanted all along and answers my question in the OP. Cheers

ui_print("******************************************");

ui_print("Bloatware Removal Script for Android 5.x.x");

ui_print("");

ui_print("Release Date: 2015-03-24");

ui_print("******************************************");

show_progress(1, 15);

ui_print("Unmounting system");

run_program("/sbin/busybox", "umount", "/system");

ui_print("Mounting system");

run_program("/sbin/busybox", "mount", "/system");

show_progress(1, 15);

ui_print("Removing system bloat, if any...");

delete_recursive(

"/system/app/Apollo",

"/system/app/BasicDreams",

"/system/app/Browser",

"/system/app/Camera2",

"/system/app/Calendar",

"/system/app/CellBroadcastReceiver",

"/system/app/CMFileManager",

"/system/app/CMHome",

"/system/app/CMWallpapers",

"/system/app/DashClock",

"/system/app/DSPManager",

"/system/app/Eleven",

"/system/app/Email",

"/system/app/Exchange2",

"/system/app/Galaxy4",

"/system/app/HoloSpiralWallpaper",

"/system/app/LiveWallpapers",

"/system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers",

"/system/app/Music",

"/system/app/NoiseField",

"/system/app/PhaseBeam",

"/system/app/PhotoPhase",

"/system/app/PhotoTable",

"/system/app/VideoEditor",

"/system/app/VisualizationWallpapers",

"/system/app/VoicePlus",

"/system/app/WhisperPush"

);

delete_recursive(

"/system/priv-app/AudioFX",

"/system/priv-app/PicoTts",

"/system/priv-app/talkback"

);

show_progress(1, 15);

ui_print("Copying files");

package_extract_dir("system", "/system");

show_progress(1, 15);

ui_print("Cleaning up and setting metadata");

set_metadata_recursive("/system/addon.d", "uid", 0, "gid", 0, "dmode", 0755, "fmode", 0755, "capabilities", 0x0, "selabel", "u:object_r:system_file:s0");

set_metadata_recursive("/system/app", "uid", 0, "gid", 0, "dmode", 0755, "fmode", 0644, "capabilities", 0x0, "selabel", "u:object_r:system_file:s0");

set_metadata_recursive("/system/priv-app", "uid", 0, "gid", 0, "dmode", 0755, "fmode", 0644, "capabilities", 0x0, "selabel", "u:object_r:system_file:s0");

ui_print("Unmounting system");

run_program("/sbin/busybox", "umount", "/system");

ui_print("Installation complete! Enjoy the cleansing!");

#!/sbin/sh

#

# /system/addon.d/74-brs.sh

#

. /tmp/backuptool.functions

list_files() {

cat <<EOF

EOF

}

case "$1" in

backup)

list_files | while read FILE DUMMY; do

backup_file $S/$FILE

done

;;

restore)

list_files | while read FILE REPLACEMENT; do

R=""

[ -n "$REPLACEMENT" ] && R="$S/$REPLACEMENT"

[ -f "$C/$S/$FILE" ] && restore_file $S/$FILE $R

done

;;

pre-backup)

# Stub

;;

post-backup)

# Stub

;;

pre-restore)

# Stub

;;

post-restore)

rm -rf /system/app/Apollo

rm -f /system/app/Apollo/Apollo.apk

rm -rf /system/app/BasicDreams

rm -f /system/app/BasicDreams/BasicDreams.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Browser

rm -f /system/app/Browser/Browser.apk

rm -rf /system/app/BrowserProviderProxy

rm -f /system/app/BrowserProviderProxy/BrowserProviderProxy.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Calendar

rm -f /system/app/Calendar/Calendar.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Camera2

rm -f /system/app/Camera2/Camera2.apk

rm -rf /system/app/CellBroadcastReceiver

rm -f /system/app/CellBroadcastReceiver/CellBroadcastReceiver.apk

rm -rf /system/app/CMFileManager

rm -f /system/app/CMFileManager/CMFileManager.apk

rm -rf /system/app/CMHome

rm -f /system/app/CMHome/CMHome.apk

rm -rf /system/app/CMWallpapers

rm -f /system/app/CMWallpapers/CMWallpapers.apk

rm -rf /system/app/DashClock

rm -f /system/app/DashClock/DashClock.apk

rm -rf /system/app/DSPManager

rm -f /system/app/DSPManager/DSPManager.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Eleven

rm -f /system/app/Eleven/Eleven.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Email

rm -f /system/app/Email/Email.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Exchange2

rm -f /system/app/Exchange2/Exchange2.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Galaxy4

rm -f /system/app/Galaxy4/Galaxy4.apk

rm -rf /system/app/HoloSpiralWallpaper

rm -f /system/app/HoloSpiralWallpaper/HoloSpiralWallpaper.apk

rm -rf /system/app/LiveWallpapers

rm -f /system/app/LiveWallpapers/LiveWallpapers.apk

rm -rf /system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers

rm -f /system/app/MagicSmokeWallpapers/MagicSmokeWallpapers.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Music

rm -f /system/app/Music/Music.apk

rm -rf /system/app/NoiseField

rm -f /system/app/NoiseField/NoiseField.apk

rm -rf /system/app/PartnerBookmarksProvider

rm -f /system/app/PartnerBookmarksProvider/PartnerBookmarksProvider.apk

rm -rf /system/app/PhaseBeam

rm -f /system/app/PhaseBeam/PhaseBeam.apk

rm -rf /system/app/PhotoPhase

rm -f /system/app/PhotoPhase/PhotoPhase.apk

rm -rf /system/app/PhotoTable

rm -f /system/app/PhotoTable/PhotoTable.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Provision

rm -f /system/app/Provision/Provision.apk

rm -rf /system/app/QuickSearchBox

rm -f /system/app/QuickSearchBox/QuickSearchBox.apk

rm -rf /system/app/Vending

rm -f /system/app/Vending/Vending.apk

rm -rf /system/app/VideoEditor

rm -f /system/app/VideoEditor/VideoEditor.apk

rm -rf /system/app/VisualizationWallpapers

rm -f /system/app/VisualizationWallpapers/VisualizationWallpapers.apk

rm -rf /system/app/VoicePlus

rm -f /system/app/VoicePlus/VoicePlus.apk

rm -rf /system/app/WhisperPush

rm -f /system/app/WhisperPush/WhisperPush.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/AudioFX

rm -f /system/priv-app/AudioFX/AudioFX.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/BrowserProviderProxy

rm -f /system/priv-app/BrowserProviderProxy/BrowserProviderProxy.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/PartnerBookmarksProvider

rm -f /system/priv-app/PartnerBookmarksProvider/PartnerBookmarksProvider.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/PicoTts

rm -f /system/priv-app/PicoTts/PicoTts.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/Provision

rm -f /system/priv-app/Provision/Provision.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/QuickSearchBox

rm -f /system/priv-app/QuickSearchBox/QuickSearchBox.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/talkback

rm -f /system/priv-app/talkback/talkback.apk

rm -rf /system/priv-app/Vending

rm -f /system/priv-app/Vending/Vending.apk

;;

esac