Thomas J. Rogulski

BOSTON, MA -- Thomas Joseph Rogulski died peacefully on February 11, 2012 following complications 11 days after open-heart surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA.

Tom was predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Ellen May Rogulski; and his beloved wife of 30 years, Margaret Rogulski.

He is survived by his twin sons, Lewis Rogulski of Lisbon, CT and Joseph Rogulski of Uncasville, CT; four grandchildren, Keanna Perl and Mason Joseph, Joseph’s children, and Avery Marie and Rilui Margret, Lewis’s children; two nieces, Malisa Morris and Gwendela Laxey; one nephew, Joseph Rogulski of Washington State; one sister, Lori McCorkie and her husband, Robert McCorkie of Fuguay-Verina, NC; a brother, Robert Owen Rogulski of Las Vegas, NV; and a sister-in-law, Cathy Hunter, and her husband Robert Hunter of Norwick, CT.

Tom was a friendly, generous, and caring gentle man. He will be sorely missed by his many friends and neighbors at Bay Landing Apartments in Boothbay Harbor.

Tom led an active and accomplished life. He became a stock car driver at the age of 16, driving open-wheeled modified stock cars while still in high school and had his NACAR license before his regular driver’s license. Later he was a long-distance trucker and enlisted in the Navy, and served on boats in Vietnam. He served honorably as a quartermaster in the Navy for three years.

After the Navy, he was a volunteer firefighter and an emergency medical technician, often in Bangor. He also worked for Electric Boat in Connecticut, submarine construction and for a number of years as a quality control inspector for Pratt-Whitney Corporation in Connecticut.

He and Margaret moved to Mexico to take a temporary position. When that ended, he became a ski-lift operator for Sunday River Ski Resort until his computer literacy gained him an inside job.

A massive heart attack in 1999 ended his working life and with Margaret being ill and requiring handicapped accessible housing, they moved to Bay Landing.

Tom enjoyed his hobbies. He did fine crossstitch, which he took up when he had to quit smoking. He loved watching NASCAR and wrestling on TV and when possible attending stock car races in Wiscasset.

His love of boats and the ocean was life-long. He enjoyed boat rides, whale watching and drives to Ocean Point and Hendricks Head. He loved to drive by Boothbay Boat Yard to check on activity or to park and look at the water.

He took a keen interest in the news, local and national, also the political scene. He was an avid history buff, watched PBS and the military channel. He owned and collected DVDs on these subjects also science fiction and adventure.