Phyllis (Czaplicki) Esslinger ’55 (CLAS)

Phyllis (Czaplicki) Esslinger,  passed away peacefully on May 10, 2021 in Sturbridge, MA. She was born on December 11, 1933 in Terryville, CT, the daughter of Edmund and Jean (Wojciechowski) Czaplicki. Phyllis graduated from Bristol High School in Bristol, CT in 1951, and went on to study Microbiology at the University of Connecticut, receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in 1955. She earned a Master’s Degree in Bacteriology from Wellesley College in 1957 and was a member of Sigma Xi.

Phyllis was an athletic person, playing basketball in high school and college, and enjoyed many outdoor adventures, including canoeing, skiing, skating and swimming in the ocean. After graduating from Wellesley College, Phyllis worked at Tufts Medical Center in Boston before returning to Bristol, Connecticut where she worked as a bacteriologist for the New Britain Health Department. She married Andrew Esslinger in 1964, and lovingly raised two daughters while serving as an active school parent volunteer and substitute teacher. Phyllis later worked for the UConn Health Center and taught chemistry at Hartford Community College. She and Andrew retired to Sturbridge in 2001 where they were members of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish.

She leaves behind two daughters, Ellen-Jean E. Cooley and her husband Patrick of Watertown, MA, and Amy Litman and her husband Dana of Malden, MA. Her husband of 55 years, Andrew D. Esslinger, passed away in December of 2019.