Obituary: Edward Bulkeley (Buck) Griswold, 80, of Wilton

Information and Photo Courtesy Hoyt Funeral Home

WILTON, CT — Edward Bulkeley (Buck) Griswold, 80, of Wilton passed away on February 14, 2019 at Yale New Haven Hospital due to complications from congestive heart failure. Calling hours will be held at Hoyt Funeral Home at 199 Main Street, New Canaan, CT on Friday February 22nd from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. A "celebration of life" service will be held on Saturday, March 30th (with more details to follow) at the Wilton Congregational Church with a reception to follow at the Waveny House in New Canaan.

Buck was born in Hartford to Edward North Griswold Jr. and Edith Josephine Werdelin on July 4th, 1938. He graduated from Wethersfield High School in 1956. He went on to a post-graduate year at Vermont Academy in 1957, earned a BS in Business from the University of Maryland in 1961, earned an MBA in 1966 from The University of Connecticut.

Buck worked at Travelers Insurance Company as a financial analyst from 1961-1971, Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company as Vice President of the investment department from 1971-1976, General Electric as Senior Vice President of GE's investment organization in Stamford from 1976-1984, and raised and ran a venture capital fund at Marketing Corporation of America in Westport from 1984-1997. He then started and was managing partner of his own private equity firm initially called L&L Capital but merging to become Centripetal Partners from 1997-2019. He was also on the board of many of his portfolio companies over the years, and most notably, the New York Mercantile Exchange (1996-2000), and the New London Mutual Life Insurance Company the past 20 years.

In his life, he was truly the "Buck That Never Stops." Buck was a civic leader throughout his life volunteering his time tirelessly to help his community. Some of his leadership positions include the following: President of Kappa Alpha Fraternity and his class at Maryland. Head of Greater Hartford Certified Financial Analysts Association (late 1960s), Head of Republican Town Committee in Simsbury (1960s and 1970s), Chairman and longtime board member at Wilton Board of Finance, President of Wilton Lacrosse Association (Hall of Fame Member), President of Wilton Sports Council, Longtime board member of the Wilton YMCA (spearheaded 1983 & 2000 major capital campaigns), YMCA Distinguished Citizen Award (1991), Good Scout Award CT Boy Scouts of America (2000), Board member Five Town Foundation, Board Member Wilton Commons (spearheading funding campaign in 2006), Head of fundraising for WFRAC (Wilton Family Recreation Complex (ice rink teen center) – unfortunately not approved, Spearheaded effort for lighting at WHS Athletic Fields, Spearheaded Recycling Program at Village Market, Board member of the UCONN Foundation – Member of Alumni Hall of Fame (elected 2000), Board of Trustees – University of Maryland, Board member of the United Way of Fairfield County, President and board member of the Wilton Historical Society (2015-2018).

In 2010, Buck was honored with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, recognizing outstanding contributions to his community and the nation.

After moving from Simsbury in 1978, Buck lived in Wilton for the past 41 years. He was a family man at heart who was a proud father and grandfather drawing great pleasure from watching all the children's sporting activities with his booming voice up in the stands many times heard yelling, "Come on guys!"In summer, Buck spent much time up on Cape Cod at his home in Harwichport, where he enjoyed golf, fishing and reading. Other hobbies included gardening, tropical fish and paddle tennis.

Buck was a caring man who had an amazing gift of connecting with people. It didn't matter who you were or where you came from, he wanted to know about you. His big smile, great story telling, and presence will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and community.

Buck is survived by his wife, Lila May Knight, of 55 years, and son Andy Griswold (53) and daughter-in-law Shelly Griswold of Wellesley, MA, daughter Lianne Acosta-Rua (51) and husband Gaston Acosta-Rua of Wilton, and Roger Griswold (49) of Norwalk. He has six grandchildren – Maddie Griswold (21), Daria Acosta-Rua (21), Alex Acosta-Rua (18), Andrew Acosta-Rua (14), Teddy Griswold (13) and Charlie Griswold (10).In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Wilton YMCA, 404 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897; The Wilton Library, 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897;Wilton Historical Society 224 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT ; Visiting Nurse & Hospice 22 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT.