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William Richard Bunke '84

Sep. 7, 1962-Feb. 6, 2021

William Richard Bunke ’84 passed away at Marlborough Hospital in Massachusetts on Feb. 6, 2021, after an adventure-filled life that took him from New York to California and back to the East Coast. 

Born on September 7, 1962, and raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., Bill majored in English while at Hamilton. He was a beloved brother at the Delta Upsilon fraternity and was selected to join the social group Nous Onze. Long before competitive eating became a nationally televised sport, Bill was virtually unbeatable at the fraternity’s bi-monthly chicken wing eating contest (and still holds the house record of 118 wings in 20 minutes). His uproarious life on the Hill was chronicled in an occasional comic strip published in The Spectator titled “The Funky Life of Tiny Habib,” authored and drawn by Bill’s fraternity brother, Sal Angotti ’84.  

Not long after graduation, Bill moved to Manhattan Beach, Calif., where he started his own pool maintenance business called Blue Lagoon. He loved playing all types of games — backgammon, cribbage, fantasy sports — and enjoyed taking spontaneous adventures: renting a limousine to see Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in concert; accompanying his mother on a grand European tour; or sampling Los Angeles’ top-rated sushi restaurants. 

Bill eventually returned to the East Coast to be near family and so he could dote on his two nieces. He graduated from the histotechnician program at Hartford Hospital (Conn.) and then worked in medical pathology labs in Massachusetts for the next 15 years, while still continuing to travel around the world. 

Even as Bill brought constant joy to friends and family until his final days, a full account of his life cannot ignore the decades-long struggle he waged against mental illness. His courage in dealing with this pernicious condition was as large as his outsized spirit and soulful personality. 

This past October, in Bill’s honor, 16 of his Hamilton friends gathered for a weekend of golf, dining, and storytelling. They plan to make this an annual event to keep Bill’s memory alive.

William R. Bunke is survived by his brother. 

—Obituary composed by David Davis ’84

Necrology Home

Note: Memorial biographies published prior to 2004 will not appear on this list.



Necrology Writer and Contact:
Christopher Wilkinson '68
Email: Chris.Wilkinson@mail.wvu.edu

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