Classmate Michael Bulavko - Class 42-10
Submitted by his son Leo Bulavko - December 2016
My dad, Michael Bulavko, a life member of your organization, passed on July
21, 2016. He was 95 years old. I learned of his membership after receiving
his effects from the nursing home where he spent his last few weeks. I do
not know his OCS class number.
I'm attaching the obituary I wrote at the
time of his passing. Feel free to edit as you wish, as I know there are
many folks of his generation -- The Greatest Generation - that are leaving
us. But I'm sort of partial to this one.
It is a pleasure to follow my
dad's footsteps and serve in the same Army as he did. He remained proud of
his service until his passing. Although not in the Signal Corps, I hope
I've done him proud. A few years ago, I had the chance to report
courts-martial up at Fort Monmouth. When I mentioned this to my dad, he
told me some tales about his time there for OCS. What an interesting post
it was - right on the water, and in the middle of one of the richest
counties in NJ. Many people working here at APG still live in NJ and
commute down here daily - that says something about how much they enjoyed
Monmouth County.
v/r
Lep M. Bulavko
Court Reporter HQ, CECOM, Office of the Staff Judge Advocate Criminal Law
Division
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
My
father, Michael Bulavko, completed his journey in life on July 21, 2016. He
was 95 years old.
Ever the realist, my dad made his arrangements several years ago. He chose a
simple plan - no wake, no church services, not even a newspaper obituary -
just a burial at the Massachusetts National Veterans Cemetery in Bourne,
Massachusetts, at a date to be determined. I’m going to take a shot at
writing an obituary now so people will know the kind of man my dad was and
the life he led.
Michael (Mike) Bulavko was born February 28, 1921, the third child of
Russian immigrants Nikita and Katherine. He was raised in Chelsea,
Massachusetts, and educated at Chelsea High School, graduating with high
honors and an interest in chemistry. He enlisted into the Massachusetts Army
National Guard after graduation in 1938. In the months leading up to World
War II, his unit was put into service to provide Air Defense protection
along the North Shore of Massachusetts. After promotion to Staff Sergeant,
Mike was assessed onto active duty through Officer Candidate School, earning
a commission in the Signal Corps. During World War II, Mike served as a
plotting and planning officer on duty in Iceland, then was selected to teach
Russian in a program at Indiana University.
After completing his active service in the Army as a First Lieutenant, Mike
returned to Chelsea, running the family business, Bulavko’s Superette, after
his father’s sudden passing in 1944. As time went on, Mike became more
involved in the local community, joining the Coast Guard Auxiliary, rising
to the rank of Captain, providing valuable lessons in boating safety. Mike
met his future wife, Anne Hackett, in mid-1961, marrying in February
1962. Mike decided to change his career in the mid-60s, starting a position
in the then-emerging field of computers with Honeywell. After moving out to
Walpole, Massachusetts ,in 1966, Mike worked for Honeywell at several
locations until 1986.
Mike and Anne welcomed their son, Leo Michael, in August 1968; after high
school, Leo followed his father’s example and joined the U.S. Army, where he
remains today as a civilian employee of the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s
Corps.
Despite losing Anne after her long battle with cancer in 1996, Mike remained
active in his life, tending to his home and being self-reliant, even working
full-time for CVS into his 80s. Mike became a regular visitor to the Walpole
Council of Aging, finding a new group of friends who are devoted to each
other. Mike is survived by Leo and his wife, Susan, and his two beloved
grandsons, Nicholas Alexander, 20, and Joshua Michael, 16, who have both
followed their grandfather’s example of service to others before
themselves. He will be missed by his family and many friends.