Clyde Dean Hinman

1923 - 2020

Clyde Dean Hinman
Clyde Dean Hinman, 97, passed away peacefully on Friday, November 27, 2020, at his home in Norwalk.
Clyde, a former long-time resident of Wilton, was the husband of 62 years of Evelyn Keller Hinman, who predeceased her husband two years ago. He is survived by his son, Peter C. Hinman, and his wife, Kristi L. Stangeland, and their two children, Erika and Kristina Hinman, and their spouses, Elizabeth Hinman and Patrick McGlone, respectively.
Born on April 28, 1923, Clyde was raised on a small, rural farm in western Kansas, and grew up there during the difficult years of the Great Depression. In fact, during this period, the family was forced to live out of the chicken coop one winter after their house burned down and before a new one could be constructed. It was during this period that Clyde made the personal commitment to engage in his studies and find a way to a life off the farm. Family lore has it that he read every book in his school's small library.
The entry of the United States into the Second World War provided that opportunity. Clyde enlisted in the Air Force and was stationed in the Pacific as a ham radio operator, navigating B-29 aircraft in numerous missions over Japan. Upon his return, he took advantage of the GI Bill to attend and graduate with a B.S. Engineering from Kansas State University. Later, Clyde headed east to work at the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, while attending evening classes at Columbia University and earning Masters Degrees in both Electrical and Chemical Engineering.
Over the years, Clyde continued to broaden his engineering knowledge at the Perkin-Elmer and Union Carbide Corporations where he specialized in laser spectroscopy and its application to medical instrumentation. He is credited with a number of patents for this work, including perhaps most notably, a centrifugal device that performed multiple blood analyses much more rapidly than had been previously possible. He was also active in the Wilton community as, among other things, a long-standing member of the Wilton Congregation Church where he served on a number of committees.
Clyde was a devoted husband and a role model for his son of those fine characteristics of a thoughtful, soft spoken and courteous gentleman. Together with his wife, he taught his son and granddaughters the importance of hard work and continuous improvement, open-mindedness, patience, honesty and duty.
In celebration of his life, it is anticipated that a memorial service will be held in Wilton later in 2021 after current pandemic conditions have eased.