Ward Emmons (Hop) Wiltse, Jr., 96, of Southington, faithful and loving husband of Jean B. (Fischer) Wiltse for 67 years, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. Hop lived an interesting and full life focused on everyone other than himself. Devotion to family, hard work in his professions, adventurism and service to others were the cornerstones of his life.
Hop was the oldest of Ward E. and Susie (Barnes) Wiltse’s three adult boys and a daughter who died at childbirth. He was born on the family farm in Poughkeepsie, NY, on June 18, 1920. His tireless work ethic was molded during the years of the Depression when he worked on the farm, delivered milk, trained with the Civil Air Patrol and operated a turret lathe at the De Laval Separator Company making parts for the war effort after graduating from Arlington High School in 1939.
Hop developed a lifelong love of flying and adventure when a Curtis JN-4 “Jenny” biplane landed in a field near the family farm when he was just a boy. He soloed his first flight at the age of 16 and earned his initial flight certification from the Reid School of Aeronautics in 1941. Hop received his commercial pilot’s license as well as his nickname at New York’s Stormville Airport in 1943 where he worked as an engine mechanic and flew frequent “hops” around the region. He achieved his multi-engine pilot’s license after World War II through the GI Bill.
Hop enlisted in the Army Air Corps in April 1944 as an aerial engineer and became a crew chief on B-17s while based at McDill Field in Tampa, FL, logging over 2500 hours shuttling aircraft throughout the United States. He later became a crew chief on B-29s while stationed at Andrews Field in Washington, D.C. where he also served as a flight engineer on B-17s, C-47s and B-29s, attaining the rank of sergeant. While in the military he honed his exceptional mechanical skills which would be a hallmark of his life’s work.
After leaving the service in May 1946, he joined the Rock Island Line railroad as a fireman working on routes between Washington and Chicago igniting a long affection for full-size and model trains. Upon his return home he joined the region’s Caterpillar construction equipment dealership, H.O. Penn Machinery Company, as a service representative in 1947 and moved to Connecticut to support the company’s newly expanded territory. His move to Connecticut allowed him to meet and court his life’s sweetheart, Jean, from West Hartford and they married in 1949 at Hartford’s Emanuel Lutheran Church.
Hop worked for H.O. Penn for 38 years rising through the company to become the maintenance shop foreman at the dealership’s Newington facility. As Caterpillar’s “go to” mechanic in Connecticut for many years, he worked around the clock repairing bulldozers for contractors responding to the devastating floods of 1955. He then parlayed his gift of conversation into the field of sales for nearly 20 years, ending his career as the company’s governmental sales representative to the state’s 169 municipalities.
The consummate handy-man, no one maintained a home, a yard or a car like Hop. He and Jean enjoyed putting down new roots and becoming friends with neighbors in Unionville, Monroe, Newington and Southington, CT; Bradford, NH; and Englewood, FL. Hop also contributed to his community wherever he lived, serving as a volunteer fireman for Newington’s Company 2, spending countless hours in his wood shop making products for the church and serving as a loyal mason for over 75 years. He held dual masonic memberships in Triune Lodge #782 A.F. and A.M. in Poughkeepsie and in Sequin-Level Lodge #140 in Newington and was also a York Rite mason for more than 40 years.
Along with his wife he is survived by his three children, Karen and her partner, Jean Watson, of Berlin; David and his wife, Debra, of Southington; and John, of Berlin; three grandchildren who he absolutely thought the world of, Anthony and his wife Brittany; Rebecca Jalowiecki and her husband Joe; and Adam, all of Southington; and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister, Barbara, and brothers Howard and George, all of Dutchess County, NY.
Hop has repaired his last bulldozer, stoked his last train out of the station and pulled his last plane off the tarmac and is now headed home.
A reception to celebrate Hop’s life will be held for family and friends on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at 12 p.m. at the Aqua Turf Club, 556 Mulberry Street, Plantsville. Interment will be private and at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Emanuel Lutheran Church, ATTN: Camp Calumet Fund, 311 Capitol Ave, Hartford, CT 06106 or to Sequin-Level Lodge #140, ATTN: Newington H.S. Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 310142, Newington, CT 06131-0142.
