Peter Bulkeley Brainard

Wigs was born on July 8, 1940 in Hartford, Connecticut to Charles E. Brainard and Katherine (Keeney) Brainard. He was predeceased by his brothers Charles E. Brainard Jr. and infant Newton C. Brainard II and is survived by his sister Anne Brainard Schmitt (Pooh) of Dataw Island, South Carolina and Fenwick.

Wigs started life living on Bainbridge Road in West Hartford, attending Beach Park School, the Junior School (Renbrook), Kingswood School, then away to board at Kent School where he graduated in 1958. He went on to Middlebury College in Vermont but eventually was informed by its Dean that “Downhill Skiing” was not a valid major. After stints at Trinity College and Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, he eventually graduated from University of Hartford. He started the construction and residential development firm of Hartford-West Inc. with Jim Batterson and they successfully developed subdivisions in Farmington, Simsbury, and Avon for 30 years. Wigs was very meticulous in his craft and how he ran his business.

In 1962, Wigs married Suzanne Miller (now Levine) of West Hartford and had three children: Peter Bulkeley Brainard Jr. (of Charleston, SC), Newton Case Brainard III (of Lyme, CT), and Pamela Hall (Brainard) Greenho (of Old Lyme, CT), whom he leaves along with their spouses Elizabeth Soule Brainard, Mimi Chmiel Brainard, and Brian Greenho. In 1979, he married Rosalie Sellar Brainard. They were married for 37 years until her death in 2014. Wigs is survived by his wife, Rowena Okie of Weston, VT, and his grandchildren, Lucy Brainard, Tenley Brainard, Georgia Brainard, Peter Brainard III (Petey), Morgan Greenho, Schuyler Greenho, and his step-granddaughter, Sarah Gordon. He also leaves his stepchildren, Andrea (Ahnie) Berl, Tia Thompson, Ennalls Berl, Alex Flour, Charles (Wag) Berl, Christopher Berl, and step-grandchildren, Lili Flour, Jasper Flour, Charlotte Berl, Wilder Berl, Allaire Berl, and Alix Thompson.

Wigs was a very accomplished downhill skier and also greatly enjoyed cross country skiing around the family cabin in Bondville, VT. He loved to ski at Bromley Mountain and enjoyed being amongst the first skiers at Stratton the year it opened in 1961. He was also an enthusiastic sailor and competed in Fenwick sail races in his red Mercury, before capping his sailing career with his small catboat, aptly named the Humbug, that he bought off the side of the road while driving from Newport to Fenwick one summer.

He often played golf in Fenwick and was one of only a handful of TWO-time champions of the esteemed Morgan Cup (1967 and 1998), a tournament dating back to 1900 that has been awarding a Green Jacket longer than Augusta National!

A man of many hobbies, he and Rosalie began playing polo in the 1980’s and then took up fox hunting with the Fairfield County Hounds in Bridgewater, CT. He hosted Brainard and Berl children and grandchildren there for “hunt breakfasts” on numerous occasions.

He also greatly enjoyed being part of the choir at Old Saint Andrews Church in Bloomfield, his booming voice easily heard there and at St Mary’s-by-the-Sea Church in Fenwick.

Undoubtedly Wigs’s greatest joy in life, however, was spending time at the Brainard family cottage in Fenwick, CT. He spent 85 consecutive summers there, and could most often be found installed on the screened porch, a cup of coffee and the Hartford Courant in hand, watching the sailboats go by and calling out greetings to friends and neighbors as they rounded the corner. He delighted in watching his grandchildren compete in their sporting events, trimming the hedge, and hosting animated family dinners to celebrate any occasion (especially his own birthday). He never missed an opportunity to make a toast.

Wigs was a lively storyteller, a staunch rule-follower, and had an encyclopedic knowledge of the Brainard family history, in which he took great pride. His family and friends will miss his sneaky sense of humor, Yankee work ethic, and brutal honesty.

A “Celebration of Life” will be held this summer in Fenwick at a date to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Wigs’ honor to St. Mary’s-by-the-Sea Church, Fenwick, or the Fenwick Improvement Fund.