BULLOCH, GORDON A.
Gordon A. Bulloch passed away on June 8, 2016. He was born May 1, 1923 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He was the youngest of four boys born to Robert and Florence Bulloch. Early on the family moved to a home in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI. Growing up he enjoyed playing ice hockey at the rink always created in Humboldt Park each winter and swimming in Lake Michigan was a common pastime during the summer. He attended Bay View High School where he met Barbara Bourbeau.
World War II tragically brought an end to idyllic high school years for so many of his generation, and so it was for Gordon. Heeding the call to arms he joined the United States Marine Corps. Before long he was headed to the hot South Pacific on an old French freighter turned into a troop transport, the Rochambeau. In later years he jokingly referred to it as that deluxe cruise to the islands. He was proud to be a Marine his entire life. Somehow he managed to survive the years of slogging island to island and earning the right to a Purple Heart.
At war’s end he returned home to Milwaukee and with paint brush in hand he enrolled in the prestigious Layton School of Art. While there he rekindled the romance that began in high school with Barbara. Coincidentally, she was also to become a professional artist, and in 1948 they married. In 1951 Boeing Airplane Company, in town to recruit recent graduates, hired him to work in the technical publications group in their Wichita plant. With two-year old daughter Pam in tow, he and Barbara loaded up the green Studebaker and drove to Kansas.
Gordon worked for Boeing for 35 years. He was in the technical publications department where he worked as an illustrator, creating many conceptual drawings and paintings of Boeing products throughout the years. His work was used in manuals, proposal documents and promotional materials, as well as many other projects that came along. You might have seen them in the newspaper at some point. He capped off his Boeing career as an art editor for the Boeing Service News, which was distributed to government agencies and military users.
During these years there was much else to keep him busy. He loved his yard and vegetable garden and was a consummate do-it-yourself man. In 1953 their son Keith was born and another daughter Kathryn was born in 1962. He loved traveling and the family always enjoyed vacations with a pop-up camping trailer to southern Colorado and New Mexico, these were favorite activities. Taking the road less traveled was always a primary goal. Photos taken during these wanderings would be inspirations for paintings. He and Barbara traveled to Spain on two different occasions and to England once.
Upon retirement from Boeing in 1985, he and Barbara began painting in earnest. Theirs were familiar faces on the art fair and show scene, garnering awards along the way. They loved to travel to unique and picturesque destinations to attend painting seminars, honing techniques and experiences that would be reflected in their art. His paintings are found in many businesses throughout the region as well as nationally. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries in Wichita and Lindsborg and were included in the national art for the parks competition and have hung in the offices of the Kansas governor and congressional offices in Washington, D.C.
Gordon is preceded in death by his wife Barbara and son Keith Bulloch. He is survived by his daughter Pamela Johnson, husband Robert; grandson Stephen Rudd, wife Alicia; great-grandchildren Christopher, Mathew, Jacob, and by marriage Megan, Chase, Erin; great-great-grandchild, Grace. Grandson Keith Bulloch, Jr.; great-grandchildren Star, Alex; Grandson Tim Bulloch, wife Shawna; and great-grandchild Kyle. Daughter Kathryn Van Steinberg, granddaughters Jessica Yaeger and Victoria Van Steinberg, and grandson William Van Steinberg, Jr.
A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, at Lakeview Cemetery.