John Bunker Obituary

Graveside services with military rites for Wheatland, Wyoming, resident, John Birkbeck Bunker, 79, were conducted at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31, 2005, in the Wheatland Cemetery at Wheatland with Reverend Joel Dingman of All Saints' Episcopal Church officiating. He died Thursday, May 26, 2005, at his home in Wheatland of natural causes after a long battle with cancer. John was born March 8, 1926, in Yonkers, New York, the son of Ellsworth and Harriet Allen (Butler) Bunker. He attended Putney School in Vermont and entered Yale University in 1943, where he became a member of Phi Gamma Delta and Book and Snake senior society. As an infantry officer in the United States Army, 1944-46, he was with the army of occupation in Germany, emerging as a first lieutenant. He was graduated from Yale in 1950 and served again as an infantry officer in the 7th Calvary in Korea and Japan, 1950-52. As a fourth generation of his family to be involved in the sugar industry, he joined the National Sugar Refining Company in Philadelphia and New York in 1953, spending three years as general manager of the Godchaux, Louisiana Division of the company. In 1962 he moved west to join the Great Western Sugar Company where he was Assistant to the president and was named president in 1966. Prior to moving to Wheatland, he served as president and CEO of Holly Sugar Company from 1971 until 1979, and California-Hawaii Sugar Company from 1981 until 1989. In 1988, he was named "Sugar Man of the Year", the industry's most prestigious recognition. He was a trustee of the Asia Foundation, and also served on the Boards of the Denver Art Museum, the Colorado Springs Symphony, the First National Bank of Colorado Springs, and Colorado College where he also taught business and environmental ethics. He moved to Wheatland in 1987 and served as chairman of the board of First State Bank from 1992 until 1998. John was a member of All Saints' Episcopal Church and the Lion's Club. Mr. Bunker enjoyed ranching and activities with his grandchildren. Survivors include his wife, Emma Cadwalader Bunker of Wheatland; five children: Emma C. Bunker Jr. of Wheatland, Jeanie C. Bunker of Pleasant Hill, California, Harriet C. Bunker of LaSalle, Colorado, John C. Bunker of Wheatland, and Lambert C. Bunker of Denver, Colorado; two adopted Chinese children: David Shu of Chicago, Illinois, Dongning Wang of Orefield, Pennsylvania; his sister, Ellen Bunker of Tucson, Arizona; brother, Samuel Bunker of Dummerston, Vermont; and 18 grandchildren. Memorials to the Platte County Memorial Hospital Foundation in care of First State Bank, P.O. Box 39, Wheatland, Wyoming 82201-0039 would be appreciated by the family.