Obituary: Henry (Hank) Walter Bullinger, 97, Of Wilton

Information and Photo Courtesy Bouton Funeral Home

WILTON, CT — Henry (Hank) Walter Bullinger passed away peacefully at home on Jan. 24, just a few days after his 97th birthday. Born in January 1927, Hank was the youngest of Fredric and Harriet Bullinger’s three children. He was raised in Bronxville, NY and often visited Wilton, where his grandparents and uncles had a small dairy farm. A great storyteller, Hank often told tales of his time on the farm helping move cattle from the meadow on the corner of Turtleback and Whipstick Roads, to pastures on what is now Deer Run Road. In the early 1900s, his mother was the teacher at the Bald Hill schoolhouse, at the age of 17.

At age five, Hank fell critically ill with polio, and at the height of the fever the doctor told his mother “if he is alive in 24 hours, he might make it.” Make it he did, and he went on to live 92 more years. Hank slowly recovered from the illness and the related paralysis, but it kept him out of school for a year, and he never fully regained the strength in his legs. That didn’t stop him from trying out for the varsity football team in high school. He was largely second-string, but for a couple of glorious games junior year he played center after the starter in the position was injured. Not a small achievement for a boy that had to relearn to walk at age six.

After graduating a year early from Roosevelt High School in Yonkers in 1944, Hank enlisted in the Navy and was set to be deployed to the Pacific front when WWII came to an end. Upon discharge, he returned home and enrolled at the University of Connecticut, where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. Hank met Joann, his wife of 70 years, at a house party on Nod Hill Road in the early fifties. They married in Vandergrift, PA in 1955 and set about building the original part of their lifelong home on a parcel of the old family farm off Turtleback Road. They completed much of the work themselves, and drew upon his father and a cast of colorful old-school Wilton tradesmen to help with the work they couldn't do.

Hank started his career at Burndy Electric, in Norwalk, but soon joined Perkin-Elmer, based in Wilton, where he spent more than 30 years working on the development and production of precision instruments. He was awarded several patents for his work on lasers and mass spectrometers, both technologies that have major roles in the world today. In his later years at Perkin-Elmer, he was known as the troubleshooter, meticulously sweating out details and ultimately finding a solution to even the most evasive problems, a trait that served him well in his engineering career and sometimes tested the patience of those around him. He retired from Perkin-Elmer in the mid-1990s, but continued on as a consultant for several more years.

One of Hank’s proudest achievements was chairing the committee that oversaw the construction of the original Driscoll School in Wilton. He took on the role with no town committee experience, but tackled the challenge with earnest determination, working with architects, vendors, town finance and building officials, and board members to see the project through. It was a deeply meaningful experience for him.

Hank’s insatiable curiosity and love of learning was an inspiration. In addition to engineering, his interests were wide-ranging, and he would happily discuss topics from aviation to naval leadership during WWII, to the history of Wilton dating back to its founding. He was also endlessly curious about people and would hold lengthy conversations with everyone from call center staffers to his four grandkids. What they were interested in, he was interested in, and he would listen with enthusiasm.

He loved the fields and woods surrounding their home in Wilton, much of which he owned. The land was a link to his parents, and to family history, and he remained a steward of it throughout his adult life. The wooded land was also the aesthetic he loved most of all, and the woodlots, ledge and field were not just home, they were profoundly beautiful. Up into his eighties, Hank loved to putter in the woods, clearing trails, adding detail to survey maps, and taking stock of the trees, forest floor plants, and creatures that shared the land with him.

Hank also treasured his summer cottage in Weekapaug, RI, which he and Jo built in 1969 and became a gathering place for multiple generations. He loved sailing his Sunfish on the saltwater ponds and taking late afternoon swims in the ocean, a tradition his daughter and granddaughter keep up today. In his later years, he’d sit on the deck gazing out over the water toward the Montauk and Watch Hill Point lighthouses.

Hank is survived by his wife Joann Bullinger; his eldest daughter Jan and her husband Henry Rines; his son Mark Bullinger; his daughter Kate Bullinger and her husband Gary Koops; and grandchildren Sophie and Sam Bullinger and Grace and Charlotte Koops. During the final two years of his life, he was blessed to have the care of a live-in aide, Marina Tkeshelashvili, who doted on him like a mother. In addition to his parents, Hank was predeceased by his brother Lee and his sister Barbara Lord.

A celebration of his life is planned for April.

Donations in Hank's memory can be made to Ridgefield Visiting Nurse, who provided gracious end-of-life care to Hank, or The Wilton Library.