Memorable Manitobans: William Ralph Bullock (1936-2022)

Engineer.

Born on a farm near Maidstone, Saskatchewan on 30 June 1936, son of William and Olive Bullock, he attended a one-room country school to grade 8 then high school at Maidstone. He then went to the University of Saskatchewan where he received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Engineering Physics (1958) and a Master of Science degree in Upper Atmospheric Physics (1960).

In 1960, he moved to Winnipeg to work as an engineer at Bristol Aerospace, for which he travelled several times to northern Canada and South America to send weather balloons into the upper atmosphere. He worked on the Black Brandt rocket program in the early 1960s and was later promoted to management, becoming Vice-President of Engineering and Control at Bristol Aerospace and Vice-President of Environmental Affairs at Rolls Royce.

He served on the council or executive of several organizations including the National Research Council of Canada, Manufacturing Technology Service of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association, Economic and Innovation Technology Council, Total Quality Manitoba Inc., and the Air Industries Association of Canada. He was Chair of the Board of Governors at Red River College (?-1998). In recognition of his community service, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manitoba (1997) and a Merit Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba (1991).

While at university, he met and married Irene Pearl Heinrichs (1933-2017). They had two daughters and a son before divorcing. In 1993, he married Helene Jeanette Walker. He was a member of the Breezy Bend Country Club and Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club (President, 1978-1979). He chaired the 1991 World Curling Championship held in Winnipeg. He was an avid HAM radio operator.

He died at Winnipeg on 14 December 2022

Sources:

Obituary [Irene Pearl Bullock], Winnipeg Free Press, 11 February 2017.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 2022.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 25 January 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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