Howard Benjamin Bullard

Howard Benjamin Bullard III died on December 21, 2025, the winter solstice, after reaching his lifetime goal of 100 years. He died peacefully at home in Guilford, CT, surrounded by those who loved him, who held him, prayed, and sang him on his way. After a lifetime of natural physical activity in work and play, he was immobile in his bed for only three days before he died.

Ben was born on December 30, 1924, in New York City, to Helen Price Bullard and Howard B. Bullard Jr. He was an only child. He experienced the first of many effects of the Great Depression when his family moved in with his grandparents while his father searched unsuccessfully for work. Ben remained frugal his entire life and impressed on his children the importance of careful stewardship of financial and natural resources.

Ben's childhood summers were full of fun, outdoor activities at his paternal grandparents' home in West Charleton, NY, where he learned to milk cows and do other farm chores. He enjoyed swimming, boating, and mountain climbing at his beloved Camp Sabael on Indian Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State. Ben was a strong supporter of the Adirondack State Park and the conservation efforts behind its creation and the public and private institutions which sustain it today. He was a founding supporter of the Adirondack Museum (now the Adirondack Experience) in Blue Mountain Lake and for years enjoyed taking his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy its unique outdoor and indoor portrayals of Adirondack history and life. He is remembered by his family and all members of Camp Sabael for his legendary skill at croquet on an "extreme" course at his cabin, Eagle's Reach. Three months before he died, over the Labor Day weekend, he won his final match at his final weekend in Camp. No one was surprised.

Ben valued education, especially a good secondary school education. Through the generosity of his Uncle Edgar Fitch Bullard, he attended the Albany Academy from the third grade and valued the teachers who inspired and challenged him. He was Captain of Battalion A and was awarded the Ernest Livingston Miller Memorial sword for outstanding merit. He graduated cum laude and was elected as "most likely to succeed." Ben attended Yale University as part of the Navy's V-12 Officer Training Program in engineering. The rigorous program ran year-round for three years, and students were motivated to do well-any student who didn't keep up academically was sent directly to the front.

Completing his B.E. degree in 1946, and with the war over, Ben began his career in the oil business as a roughneck on an oil rig in Colorado. Later, in a training program with the Carter Oil Company as a petroleum engineer, he met his future wife, Patricia Ruth Gilpin, in Carmi, IL. They were married on November 14, 1948, and settled in Purcell, Oklahoma. This was to be the first of many homes in many places over the course of the next 20 years.

Ben and Pat had four children. Their firstborn, Carol, contracted polio at the age of 18 months, two months after her brother, Benny, was born. This event had a profound effect on the whole family. Ben related that one of the few times he cried was when he and Pat had to leave Carol alone at the hospital for two weeks before they were able to visit her. Long drives to Warm Springs, Georgia, for treatments became part of their life at that time. A gift Ben and Pat gave to all their children was the certainty that Carol's disability would not hold her back in life.

In 1960, Ben was working in New York City in the office of the Producing Coordinator for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. With their fourth child, Fitch, just three months old, the family moved to Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, where Ben was transferred to help the Iraq Petroleum Company develop oil fields in Abu Dhabi. He, sometimes with Pat, had many adventures in the desert, including meeting with then ruler ShakhBut at a banquet under a tent, and escaping a sandstorm in a tiny plane. On a visit to Baghdad in November 1963, he was caught with other foreign visitors in a guesthouse during a military coup while developing appendicitis!

Only fifteen years post-WWII, English culture suited Ben. The frugality of the British, as well as their acceptance of eccentricities, charmed him. The family traveled often on weekends and holidays to see the sights and walk and hike together. Ben enjoyed visiting the auction houses of London to bid on paintings during his lunch hour. He kept one bicycle at home to ride to the train station in Beaconsfield and one at Marylebone Station in London to ride to his office, part of his lifelong habit of exercise.

After working in the oil business for 20 years, Ben tired of all the moves at the whim of the company and spending so much time away from his family, travelling and spending long hours at the office. In 1968 he gave up corporate life, and the family moved back to the US, buying a plot of land in North Guilford, CT. Ben, his father, and son, Benny, built their house that summer. Ben considered a second career teaching history, but he never returned to paid work again. Initially writing two autobiographical books, he began a life of self-education, careful investment of resources and a variety of volunteer work. This included serving as president of the Guilford Land Trust; twenty years on the Representative Policy Board of the New Haven Water Company, including some as Chairman and as Chairman of the Finance Committee; running an unsuccessful campaign for First Selectman as a Republican after the Watergate scandal; and serving on committees and as Moderator of the North Guilford Congregational Church.

Ben's relationships with his Arab colleagues gave him a clear understanding of the oppression of Palestinians under Israeli Occupation. At a time when few in the US were aware of their situation, Ben was a knowledgeable advocate for the human rights of Palestinians, often speaking to church and other groups about their suffering.

When Ben's son, Fitch, came out as a gay man in the 1980s, Ben offered immediate support and love and became an advocate for gay and lesbian rights and a support for other parents on their journey of acceptance. He and Pat actively encouraged their church to become Open and Affirming.

Ben was a model for aging gracefully. As he wished, he was able to live in his home until his death with the help of his children and devoted caregivers. He had a ready smile for everyone who visited and frequently expressed gratitude for his life, family, church and friends. He was a light to so many in his community, his country, and the world.

Ben leaves behind his loving children and their partners, P. Carol Bullard-Bates and Kent R. Beduhn of Silver Spring, MD; H. Benjamin Bullard of North Sandwich, NH; and Elizabeth Bullard Morse and Richard P. Morse of Plainfield, NH; eight grandchildren and their spouses; and 13 great-grandchildren; seven step-children; nine step-grandchildren; six step-great-grandchildren; and his devoted caregiver for the last three years of his life, Elvira Muleya. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Patricia Gilpin Bullard, his youngest son, E. Fitch Bullard, and his daughter-in-law, Betty V. Webster.

A memorial service to celebrate Ben's life will be held on Saturday, January 24, at 11 am, at the North Guilford Congregational Church, 159 Ledge Hill Road, Guilford, CT 06437. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent in Ben's memory to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), or the North Guilford Congregational Church.