Obituary of Warren Bruggeman

NISKAYUNA - Warren H. Bruggeman, 83, a retired General Electric Company Vice President who was active in civic affairs, entered into eternal life at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady on Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Mr. Bruggeman, whose association with the company spanned 40 years, retired in 1985 as Vice President of G.E.'s worldwide nuclear power business. He is credited with the successful fiancial turn around of General Electric's commercial nuclear program. Warren Bruggeman who born in Richmond Hill, New York on December 11, 1925, the son of the late Eugene H. and Wilhelmina Litschke Bruggeman. He was awarded B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy and was a graduate of the Columbia University Executive Management Program. A naval officer during World War II, he served as Navigator aboard the destroyer USS Purdy in the Pacific Theatre. Mr. Bruggeman's career with G.E. started in Schenectady at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory where he was responsible for developing the technology of sodium as a liquid metal coolant for nuclear reactors and was granted patents in this field. He participated in the initial sea trials of USS Seawolf (SSN 575), the Navy's second nuclear submarine. He was the manager of the Kesseling Site at West Milton, and General Manager of the Machinery Apparatus Operation. After serving as General Manager of Gas Turbine Engineering and Manufacturing, he left Schenectady in 1979 to become Vice President of General Electric's Nuclear Energy Business headquartered in San Jose, CA. After retirement, he returned to Schenectady and was an active community volunteer. He was a member of the Ellis Hospital Board of Trustees and served for four years as Board Chairman. Bruggeman was a Trustee of the Ellis Hospital Foundation, Board Chairman of the Visiting Nurse Service Association of Schenectady and a Trustee of the VNSA Foundation. He was active on the Board and Foundation of the Capital District YMCA. He was on the Executive Committee of the Capital Region Technology Development Council and the Center for Economic Growth, and was a Business Advisor to area start-up ventures, including Spectrum Technology, Macrodyne, and as a mentor and Board member, he participated in the growth of MAPINFO to a multimillion dollar international corporation. Warren Bruggemen was an active supporter of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was a member of the RPI Board of Trustees. With his wife, the former Pauline Urban, they have established scholarships at RPI and created the Warren H. Bruggeman '46 and Pauline Urban Bruggeman Distinguished Chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 1994, Bruggeman, with two associates, founded Software Factory International, a venture to provide marketing and financial services for Ukrainian based start-up companies. RPI recognized Mr. Bruggeman as the Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year in 1994 and he was also a recipent of the Rensselaer Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Bruggeman was a member of the Mohawk Golf Club, a Fellow in ASME and the American Institute of Chemists, a member of the American Nuclear Society, and was a Licensed Professional Engineer in New York and California. He had been named a Schenectady Patroon in 1992. He is the beloved husband of Pauline Urban Bruggeman whom he married in 1947, Brother of the late Jeanne MacDonald of Elkins, NH, Brother in law of Anne S. Urban of Watervliet and Julia Rentz of Bowling Green, OH, Uncle of Audrey Rentz, PhD of Bowling Green, OH. The funeral will be Saturday at 8:45 am from the Jones Funeral Home, 1503 Union Street, Schenectady and at 9:30 am at St. John the Evangelist Church, 812 Union Street, Schenectady where a Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Rev. Richard A. Carlino, Pastor. Interment with military honors will follow in St. Nicholas Cemetery, Watervliet. Friends are invited and may call at the Jones Funeral Home on Friday from 4-7 pm. A family wake will be held on Thursday from 3-5 pm at the Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet with a Panahyda Service at 4 pm for the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Watervliet community. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Bruggeman Diagnostic and Treatment Center at Ellis Hospital or the Bruggeman-Urban Scholarship Fund at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, c/o Parker Bros. Memorial, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet, NY 12189. Condolence book at www.ParkerBrosMemorial.com.