Dr. Carl Eugene Wulfman Ph.D

1930 - 2018

Dr. Carl Eugene Wulfman, B.Sc., Ph.D., Theoretical Physicist, Professor Emeritus and former Chairman of the Department of Physics, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, passed away at his residence in Seattle, Washington, on August 29, 2018, of natural causes. He was 87 years old.

Carl was born on November 29, 1930, to Eugene Jacob Wulfman and his wife, Laura Jean (Swinton) Wulfman, in Detroit Michigan, where he and his younger brother, David Swinton Wulfman, grew up. The family spent summers in Charlevoix, Michigan, where both the Swinton and Wulfman branches of the family had homes on Lake Charlevoix. There, Carl had the freedom to explore the outdoors around Lake Charlevoix.

At age 10, he developed an interest in chemistry, which opened up a whole new world of discovery for Carl. A Gilbert chemistry set and purchases made from a chemical company's mail order catalog were the catalysts that spawned Carl's curiosity about chemical processes and experiments.

At 14, Carl wrote his first published article, "Anthraconite Near Norwood Michigan", which appeared in the October, 1945 edition of Rocks and Minerals.

Carl attended Cass Technical High School, a highly selective "magnet" university preparatory high school in Midtown Detroit, where he majored in science. Carl earned early graduation from Cass Tech in January 1949, placing at the top of his class.

Carl was awarded the Moses Gomberg Fellowship in Chemistry. He entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor majoring in Chemistry in September 1949.

In the second week of his freshman year at UM, Carl was introduced to the love of his life, Constance (Connie) Ann Hart.

Of Connie, Carl wrote:

On finding that I was an inept dancer, Connie suggested we play checkers, and then she asked me to tell her of my summer. As I told her about my disastrous uranium-prospecting trip on Lake Superior, her reaction was that I had undertaken a brave and daring expedition into the Canadian wilderness.

That was the evening she transformed this clumsy nerd into a hero, and I fell in love. Then she softly led our four sons to the selflessness that brings them the same loving relations she brought to so many others through this special quality and insight of hers of taking interest in others and in their happiness.

- Carl Wulfman

Carl graduated from The University of Michigan in 1953 as the top Chemistry Major in his class. With Connie's initiative, Carl was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue doctoral studies in Chemistry at Queen Mary College, University of London. They arrived in England in September 1953. Their first son, Michael, was born the following February.

Returning to America in 1955 after completing his studies for a Ph.D. at Queen Mary College, Carl's academic appointments took them to Austin, Texas, where son Peter was born, and Defiance, Ohio, where Connie gave birth to son Andrew.

Carl's appointment as Chairman of the Physics Department at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, in 1961, enabled them to establish a settled home. Their youngest son, Edward, was born shortly afterward.

Carl's sabbatical leaves provided travel opportunities and to work with colleagues both within the United States and to Oxford England, Mexico City, Canada, the Australian state of Tasmania, Christ Church New Zealand, Cambridge, MA, Tel Aviv, Israel, Princeton, NJ, Palermo, Italy, Istanbul, Turkey and Campinas, Brazil.

Carl published numerous scientific papers that advanced the understanding of atomic physics. He presented his papers at major scientific conferences worldwide.

In 2010, Carl published his book "Dynamical Symmetry". He continued to do scientific research and worked on developing novel theories relevant to the physics of light propagating over cosmological distances, for gaining a deeper understanding of the problem of the expanding universe.

Carl was an avid mineral collector and amassed an exceptional collection of fine crystal specimens and distinctive samples of minerals from deposits located throughout the world. He also enjoyed collecting important scientific books and notable historical publications of Canadian exploration and geology.

An expert in geology and astronomy as well as in chemistry and physics, Carl's love of geology was a catalyst for many expeditions into the mountains of the U.S. and north woods of Canada. He fell in love with the Sierra Nevada during his tenure in California.

Wulfman summers typically included several backpacking trips with his sons, as well as many daytrips into the mountains to escape the central valley heat and dusty air.

He took his family on several extensive adventures in Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. In 1967, he led a month long canoe trip from the headwaters of the Parsnip River at McLeod Lake to Finlay Forks and down the Peace River before the route was flooded by the construction of W.A. C. Bennett Dam in 1968. The adventures encountered on that journey are legendary, including shooting rapids, meeting old fur trappers and members of the local band of the Sekani First Nations peoples: all accomplished with his young sons, wife Connie, and graduate student, Tai-ichi Shibuya.

In the 1970's, he and his youngest son went on a two-month excursion in B.C, rife with misadventures the stories of which he regaled merrily to his friends and colleagues. Later in life, he began to more deliberately explore the Yukon and Northern British Columbia, managing month long trips with his sons or friends nearly every year or two right into his '80's.

In retirement, Connie and Carl relocated to the Olympic Peninsula in 2003, settling in Port Angeles, WA the following year. They fell in love with the area and the community, making cherished friendships with neighbors and members of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.

In September 2012, Carl and Connie celebrated 60 years of marriage and a lifetime of happy memories. Connie passed on January 25th, 2013. Their four sons all feel blessed that they grew up and were guided by such adventurous, intelligent, and romantic parents.

Carl is survived by sons Michael, Peter, Andrew and Edward, grandchildren Heather, Haley, Leah, Alison, Laura, Annette, Brian, Michael and Zachary; great-grandchildren Madeline, Amelia, Zelda, Desire'e, Kyrstyn and Aria; sister-in-law Helga; his nephews, Mathew and Eric Wulfman, beloved cousins Sally Swinton-Bales, Ann DeWalt and Marion Richardson. Carl leaves his close lifelong friends and colleagues Herb Reinelt, and Neil Lark, Tai-ichi Shibuya, Sukeyuki Kumei, Greg Reid, the beloved members of the St. Andrews Episcopal Church congregation, and many more cherished friends and relatives who also touched his life with loving kindness.

A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

510 E Park Ave, Port Angeles, WA 98362 at 2PM October 16, 2018.