house watching TV and going to his three meals. That’s what happens when you’re in an assisted living place.  Thank God, he was mostly independent – like 85% independent – he needed very little help, which is really a miracle for how old he was and the fact that he was born with some disabilities. His left hand didn’t work right and he walked kind of funny, too.  That all happened from birth.

“So, the fact that he could live that many years, bring up two healthy sons, work for many, many years for the government – for 35 years – all of that was a testament of his hard work ethic.

“So, I think of that, but I also think of his ‘kind’ thing.  He was always sweet to the office lady. Yeah, he had a temper and I knew about that, too, when he was cranky and someone didn’t do something the way he wanted them to do it. But, in general, he was very jovial and almost flirtatious with the nurses and to the doctors in a very funny way.  He would brag about his sons and what he did for the government – you know - the work stuff.  I found all of that quite charming. 

“As much as I didn’t think he had a lot on his plate, I guess he did in his own mind.  He had lots to talk about.”

When I asked Bruce what kind of government work Mr. Kulick did, his obvious pride for his dad really showed.

“It was interesting because he would tell people – he broke it down to the simplest thing: ‘I worked for NASA.’  Okay, he did in a way. But, what he did was he was a Quality Control Engineer.  The government hires a research and development firm to make something for either an aircraft carrier system or for something needed for NASA’s Apollo 8 spacecraft. The contracts were huge even back in those days. They could be a millions of dollars to  create something that belongs on the aircraft carrier or for NASA.  So basically, the company wouldn’t get paid unless they did the right thing.  My father was there to supervise it and sign off on it, so his office would be at one of these places that they really had to kiss his ass, shall we say.”

Continuing his memories of his father’s work, Kulick shared a story about going to his Dad’s workplace. “It was really wonderful: this one time I got to see my dad at work and I got to see the respect that he got from the people there because it was always a little bit of a mystery what he did. I knew he did something at a plant but, again, when it was hinging upon his signature whether or not they get paid, obviously, the government trusted my Dad to do the right thing and make sure the item worked the way it was supposed to. I’m sure the place was nervous because they were going to want the money.  It meant the world to me to finally see him in his work element. As opposed to the home “man of the house” which in many Jewish homes is just kind of funny fighting with the wife!