Here’s the full text of Walter Bruhl’s obituary, courtesy of his family.
Walter George Bruhl Jr. of Newark and Dewey Beach is a dead person; he is no
more; he is bereft of life; he is deceased; he has rung down the curtain and
gone to join the choir invisible; he has expired and gone to meet his maker.
He drifted off this mortal coil Sunday, March 9, 2014, in Punta Gorda, Fla.
His spirit was released from his worn-out shell of a body and is now exploring
the universe.
He was surrounded by his loving wife of 57 years, Helene Sellers Bruhl, who
will now be able to purchase the mink coat which he had always refused her
because he believed only minks should wear mink. He is also survived by his
son Walter III and wife Melissa; daughters Carly and Paige, and son Martin and
wife Debra; son Sam and daughter Kalla. Walt loved and enjoyed his grandkids.
Walt was preceded in death by his tonsils and adenoids in 1935; a spinal disc
in 1974; a large piece of his thyroid gland in 1988; and his prostate on March
27, 2000.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 20,1933 at 10:38 p.m., and weighed in
at a healthy seven pounds, four ounces, and was 22 inches long, to Blanche
Buckman Bruhl and Walter George Bruhl.
He drifted through the Philadelphia Public School System from 1937 through
1951, graduating, to his mother’s great relief, from John Bartram High School
in June 1951.
Walter was a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, having served from
October 1951 to September 1954, with overseas duty in Japan from June 1953
till August 1954. He attained the rank of sergeant. He chose this path because
of Hollywood propaganda, to which he succumbed as a child during World War II,
and his cousin Ella, who joined the corps in 1943.
He served an electronics apprenticeship at the Philadelphia Naval Yard from
1956-61; operated Atlantic Automotive Service Stations in Wilmington during
1961-62; and was employed by the late great DuPont Co. from 1962-93. (Very few
people who knew him would say he worked for DuPont, and he always claimed he
had only been been hired to fill a position.)
He started at the Chestnut Run Site as a flunky in the weave area of the
Textile Fibers Department, and then was promoted to research assistant, where
he stayed from 1963-72. In 1972 he accepted a position as an equipment service
representative with the Photo Products Department at the old DuPont Airport
site (now Barley Mill Plaza).
In 1973 he was promoted to manufacturing engineering technologist and was
employed in that capacity until, after 31 years with The Co., he was given a
fine anniversary dinner and a token gift and then "downsized" in December
1993. He was rehired as a contract employee in June 1994, doing the same job
that he had been "downsized" from, and stayed until July 1995.
He started his own contract business and worked at Litho Tech Ltd. from
1996-99.
There will be no viewing since his wife refuses to honor his request to have
him standing in the corner of the room with a glass of Jack Daniels in his
hand so he would appear natural to visitors.
Cremation will take place at the family's convenience, and his ashes will be
kept in an urn until they get tired of having it around. What’s a Grecian Urn?
Oh, about 200 drachmas a week.
Everyone who remembers him is asked to celebrate Walt’s life in their own way;
raising a glass of their favorite drink in his memory would be quite
appropriate.
Instead of flowers, Walt would hope that you will do an unexpected and
unsolicited act of kindness for some poor unfortunate soul in his name.