Lewis W. Hull, 95; businessman flew gliders

Lewis W. Hull spent a lifetime flying gliders.

"He flew well into his 80s and into his 90s," a son, Stephen, said in a phone interview.

"A week after getting out of the hospital from a heart attack, he flew . . . and soared and had a wonderful time," his son said.

That was in 2009, the year he turned 93.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, Mr. Hull, 95, of Southampton, Bucks County, died of heart failure at Abington Memorial Hospital.

He founded Hull Corp. in 1952 and was its president when the Hatboro firm was sold in 2002.

"The company produced equipment used to freeze-dry pharmaceutical products, and a separate division pioneered the plastic encapsulation of electronic components," his son said.

Since 2002, he had been board chairman of HullVac Pump Corp. in Ivyland.

"There were a lot of passions in his life, and gliding was one of the key ones," his son said.

On the website of the Philadelphia Glider Council, Mr. Hull wrote that in 1941 he was among its founders.

In 1944 the council bought a 115-acre hay farm in Hilltown, Bucks County, he wrote, and converted it into an airfield, from which the group's pilots for decades have flown their gliders.

Typically, propeller-driven planes tow gliders to a height where the towline is released and the gliders soar on their own.

But early on, he wrote, "launching was by towing behind a car with a rope. Low-speed ground tows were used to teach balancing the aircraft.

". . . With this skill mastered, the student was towed a few feet above the ground, and then progressed to higher and higher tows."

One of his memorable trips, his son said, was when "he flew 10,000 feet above the top of Pike's Peak" in Colorado, using an oxygen mask.

Born in Scranton, Mr. Hull graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1934 and earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1938.

Mr. Hull was exempted from military service during World War II, his son said, because he was working on a secret military program.

A 2011 publication of the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education stated that Mr. Hull had been a board member of that agency for more than 30 years. The foundation sponsors business education programs.

He was a board member of Goodwill Industries and a member of the Soaring Society of America, the Churchville Rotary Club, and the Heritage Conservancy, among other organizations. An Eagle Scout, he earned the Boy Scouts' Silver Beaver Award.

Besides his son Stephen, Mr. Hull is survived by another son, Arthur; daughters Martha Halvonik and Rebecca Hull; two grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two step-grandchildren. His wife, Margaret, died in 2008.

A memorial service was set for 1 p.m. Sunday, March 4, at the North and Southampton Reformed Church, 1380 Bristol Rd., Churchville.

at 215-854-5607 or wnaedele@phillynews.com.