PROVIDENCE – Bruce Sundlun, former governor of Rhode Island, died on Thursday at his home in Jamestown. He was 91 years old.
Sundlun served as governor from 1991 to 1995, guiding the state through its banking and credit union crisis and helping lead the expansion of T.F. Green Airport.
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Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee ordered that all Rhode Island flags on public buildings across the state be lowered to half-staff until Sundlun is laid to rest.
“Bruce Sundlun lived an extraordinary life. But even with all of the events and successes of his long life, he will be best remembered as a governor who guided Rhode Island through difficult times with direction, determination and a fundamental belief in the people of our state,” said Chafee in a news release. “His accomplishments as governor were numerous, but Rhode Islanders encounter his most tangible legacies every day: the R.I. Convention Center, the Providence Place mall, and the expansion of T.F. Green Airport, where the main terminal now bears his name.”
“It is with great sadness, particularly for his wife, Soozie, and his four children, that we mark Gov. Sundlun’s death. He was a legend who will be missed across our state,” Chafee continued.
In May, Sundlun participated in a Providence Business News roundtable of former Rhode Island governors marking the newspaper’s 25th anniversary, including: J.Jospeh Garrahy, Edward D. DiPrete, Donald L. Cacieri and Chafee. A video of the roundtable can be found here and part two of the discussion, here.
Before becoming governor, Sundlun served as an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1949 to 1951 and as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General. He also served as president of the Outlet Company and as president of the Executive Jet Corporation.
Sundlun, born Jan. 19, 1920, earned his bachelor’s at Williams College in 1942 and his law degree from Harvard University in 1949. For his service as a pilot in World War II, where his plane was shot down over Nazi-occupied Belgium in 1943, he was awarded the Purple Heart, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with oak leaf cluster from the United States, and the Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur from France.
In his retirement, Sundlun taught two political science courses at the University of Rhode Island.
