Obituary
Life began for Gregory Samuel Buliga on Feb 4, 1958 in Pontiac, Michigan where he was raised by loving parents, Lena and John, both deceased. His sister, Terissa Daly, remembers he was always full of energy, jumping down the stairs, and flying over furniture with sprains and bruises. He loved hockey and met one of his dearest friends, Kevin Vivian, playing hockey, and staying out skating well into the wee hours. His love of golf started in high school playing at White Lake Golf Course with his father who died when Greg was only 23 years old. Many a golf club was broken or thrown into the water.
Greg was a naturally smart kid and earned a Chemistry degree from University of Michigan in 1980. Wanting to find warmer weather for golf, Greg moved on to graduate school at the University of California-Irvine and received a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry (minoring in golf) in 1985. While attending school he met life-long friends, played on the hockey team, and found ways to play golf on a graduate student budget on some of the most amazing courses in Southern California.
The Southern California life ended and he moved to Chicago for a job at Kraft Foods. There he did basic research while developing ingredients for fat free formulations and had numerous patents to his name. While at Kraft he met his wife, Anne, a fellow scientist, who also shared a passion for competition and sports. When Anne took a job on the east coast, Greg decided it was time to follow and they started a life together in Langhorne in 1995 after getting married in a festive party at Anne’s parents home in Virginia. Greg worked for FMC running the global Research program for years, meeting his colleague and good friend, George Ayling. He traveled to many different countries for work. One of the favorite places was Tokyo, since he loved Sushi and the golf experience there.
Life moved along, Greg and Anne had two kids, John and Katharine. They both love their father dearly and will miss him every day. In their early years, Oma (Fran Tieleman,the mother in law), was a frequent visitor to PA and spent time with Greg caring for the children and doing the daily NYT crossword puzzle (Greg in ink, Oma in pencil). He loved helping his kids develop their passion for sports and continued to support Anne unconditionally as she pursued her work and passions. His family has many happy memories of Hilton Head vacations where Greg loved to golf and spend time together with family and friends.
While living in Bucks County, Greg (also known as Senator Blutarsky, Barney, and whole host of other names that probably can’t be mentioned here) discovered a community of neighbors and golfers from Middletown, Makefield Highlands, LuLu and last but not least Yardley Country Club. Always competing, no matter the occasion, Greg spent the last ten years playing golf every single day, organizing gap matches, going on numerous golf trips, competing in local tournaments and wining a few club championships and member guests. We think one of his highest personal golf achievements was a 68-68 at 2023 LuLu senior club championship right before his stage four cancer diagnosis. Greg lived for golf events, tournaments and rounds where he competed with or against friends…there are so many friends and you know who you are. All of his buddies were like his brothers and became his family.
Greg became a Philly sports fan but never forgot about his Michigan beginnings. One of the highlights of last year was watching his alma mater, U of Michigan, win the national football championship with his son, John and his friends. Another special memory for Greg was John winning the club championship at Yardley Country Club while Greg was in the hospital fighting to continue living his life. This year he was present in Palm Springs to share in his daughter Katharine’s engagement to her future husband, Kyle Rogers.
Greg, 66, battled cancer the last year and many thanks to his doctors at Alliance Cancer, UPenn, and St Mary’s with special thanks to Dr. Dan Lebovic who became his companion in this battle. In Greg’s last few days, his brother- in- law, Mike Tieleman, was his constant companion and advocate to ensure Greg always had someone with him while he battled the pain and acceptance. Massive thanks to all his friends who have reached out and done so much for Greg and his family.
Greg’s strength while facing adversity in this last year of life inspired many people as he rarely complained and still continued to look out for others and find the good in life. We will all miss him and remember his kind nature, competitive positive mindset, and dry, witty sense of humor, and of course his clothes.
Greg is survived by his wife and lifetime partner, Anne Tieleman; his sports loving son, John, also known as “Junior Buliga" of Yardley PA; his loving daughter, Katharine Buliga (Kyle Rogers) of Nashville, TN; compassionate brother-in-law, Mike Tieleman, and his children, Will and Ara Tieleman all of Minneapolis, MN; sister, Terissa Daly, niece, Nicole Daly, and her children, Max, and Shea of Waterford Michigan; Dog, Landry; The matriarch of this clan is Fran Tieleman of Riner, VA. Lastly, Greg is survived by many other close friends who will miss him and never forget Greg.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on February 4th, 2025 at Yardley Country Club starting around 5 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to First Tee of Philadelphia (firstteephiladelphia.org) or Philly Friends of V (PhillyFriendsOfV.org).
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Memory wall
Greg will be missed by all of those lives he has touched. Rest in peace Greg knowing that a great reunion in heaven is still to come to those who have placed their faith and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.
My sincere condolences to Ann, John and Katharine and hope that they find the strength to continue to live their lives to the fullest. As I believe is what Greg would want them to do!
May Greg Rest In Peace!
May you continue to remember, grieve, celebrate, and love in ways which are healing and life-giving. Thank you for being a source of inspiration!
We shared a lot of laughs together over the years and I will miss him.
May his families wonderful memories of Greg ,help carry them through this difficult time.
It is said that the depth of a man’s devotion is known fully only by his family. Please accept our most heartfelt prayers for your husband and father.
Knowing Greg at work gave us all a strength and confidence because of his steady demeanor and lighthearted attitude.
We are gladdened that Greg may celebrate this Christmas with Christ Himself. And may Our Dear Lord draw you into His deep embrace of love to bring you comfort and peace.
Sylvia Gross and Jones Perry
Warm memories, Truï, Cas and Marten, Gorssel Holland
