Alan R. Gullicksen ’53 died on May 29, 2021, in Falmouth, Massachusetts 

(The following was published by The Enterprise on June 2, 2021)

Alan Roberts Gullicksen, who spent his summers in Falmouth and also lived in Bonita Springs, Florida, died May 29. He was 93.

He was the husband of Sandra (Castle) Gullicksen, to whom he was married for 64 years.

Mr. Gullicksen was born and raised in Quincy. He grew up sailing and racing in Quincy Bay, Marblehead, and the New York Finger Lakes. His first boat was a twelve-foot Snipe #309 named “Jeanie.”

He was educated at Thayer Academy in Braintree, where he played hockey and football, and later studied at Bowdoin College in Maine. At Bowdoin he was a member of the sailing club and played hockey, and he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1953. In later years he continued his studies at Boston State College, from which he received a master’s in education in 1972.

Mr. Gullicksen served in the US Army from 1946 to 1948, including a tour in Japan.

A former forty-year resident of Weymouth, while living there he worked as the New England sales representative for the George F. Cram Company.

His love for sailing continued throughout his life. He spent many New England summers aboard his Whitby forty-two-foot ketch, the “Ragtime Dancer.” Mr. Gullicksen was a member of the Merrymount Yacht Club, the Town River Yacht Club, the Squantum Yacht Club, and the Red Brook Harbor Yacht Club, where he served as commodore.

His travels took him around the world, including to the Mediterranean, South America, Antarctica, the Baltic, Scandinavia, Africa, the Pacific islands, and Australia.

Mr. Gullicksen continued his love of hockey, playing with the Quincy Old Timers team until his late 70s; he played tennis until his late 80s. For the past twenty-five years he divided his time between Florida and Falmouth, and enjoyed bridge and tennis in both places.

In addition to his wife, he leaves his daughter, Gull Gullicksen of Middleborough; his son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth and Victoria Gullicksen of Nantucket; four grandchildren, Tara Reidy and Sonja Reidy, both of Middleborough, and Lydia Gullicksen and Emmet Gullicksen, both of Nantucket; four great-grandchildren; and extended family.

He was preceded in death by his two older brothers, Theodore Gullicksen and Harold Gullicksen.