Frank Bullis, Sr.

Grand Isle, VT   Frank E. Bullis, 91, of Grand Isle, passed away peacefully on July 4, 2023, at the UVM Medical Center, after a short illness.   Frank was born on April 20, 1932, the only child of Edward A. Bullis and Helen Ladd Bullis.  Except for two years in the US Army, he spent his life as a dairy farmer on Savage View Farm in Grand Isle.

Frank graduated from Milton High School in 1950, attended UVM, and was drafted into the Army in 1952, first going to Kansas and then Chicago, IL.  Frank married Nancy Manley on June 26, 1954, in Milton, Vermont, while on leave, and they subsequently lived in Chicago until Frank was discharged in December, 1954. 

Frank and Nancy settled in Grand Isle and raised their four children on the family farm.   While Frank was farming, he sold and serviced Surge milking equipment, John Deere equipment, as well as serving on the State Soil Conservation Council and as a Director of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery.   Frank stayed involved and knowledgeable about the dairy industry in his retirement years - always ready with advice and suggestions for the next generation of his family farming at Savage View.  In 2021, Frank was recognized as a WCAX Super Senior, in celebration of the farm being in the Bullis family for one hundred years.

Frank and Nancy enjoyed many wonderful trips with friends to the Gaspe Peninsula, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Israel, trips to visit their children and grandchildren in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley, and over twenty winters at their beloved home in Bonita Springs, FL.

Frank made many life-long friends of all ages over the years and loved spending time out socially – going to the pub, out to breakfast at the Legion, or chatting with visitors at his home about sports, gardening, nature, Grand Isle history, and his family of whom he was very proud.

Frank enjoyed hunting and fishing all his life.  During the years he and Nancy wintered in Bonita Springs, FL, he fished to his heart’s content in his boat on the canal and ocean.  He looked fondly back on many fishing and hunting trips with family and friends, including Newfoundland, Montana, Maine, the Adirondacks, and here locally.   He always loved animals and birds and kept many pets as a boy – his Morgan horse, which he rode everywhere bareback, a goat, his dog, a pet crow that talked and went to church, and foxes. 

Frank’s mind was always working and he loved to solve problems.  Despite having dyslexia, which didn’t receive official recognition until 1963,  and being left-handed, which made school difficult for him in those days, he had an excellent mind for mechanics and the ability to do almost any kind of work with his hands.   Frank was also a gifted athlete, a star basketball player at Milton High School, and “lefty pitcher” for UVM and the Farnham Pirates, a minor league baseball team in Quebec in the early 1950’s. 

Frank is survived by his sister-in-law, Betty McLane and her husband, Alfred, and brother-in-law James Manley, Jr., and his wife, Lorraine, all of Milton, along with several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

He is also survived by his children, Cindy Nguyen and husband, Phung, of Pleasant Valley, NY, Frank Bullis, Jr., and his wife, Kathy, of Hebron, CT,  Dwight Bullis, of Grand Isle, and Carolyn Bullis, of Pocasset, MA;   grandchildren, Laurel (Brendan), Blake (Kaitlyn), Sarah, Betsy (Jim), Mary Kate (Martin), Tyler, Travis, Ryan (Sara);  and great grandchildren, Grace, Cole, Norah, Claire, Neill, Nolan, and Eleanor.

Frank was predeceased by his wife, Nancy, on May 23, 2020; his parents, Ed and Helen Bullis; his in-laws, James and Gertrude Manley, his sister-in-law Jane and her husband John FitzGerald, and his sister-in-law, Ellen Manley.

Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, July 13, 2023, from 5-7 pm at the Minor Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Milton.  A memorial service will be held on Friday, July 14, 2023, at 2 pm at the Grand Isle United Methodist Church in Grand Isle.

In lieu of flowers, you may consider donating in Frank’s memory to Ducks Unlimited, at donate.ducks.org, or the Champlain Islands Parent Child Center, 114 South Street, South Hero, VT  05458, or an organization of your choice.