Thomas Chulski

Thomas Chulski of Portage, passed away Wednesday, December 18, 2013 at Fountainview Retirment Village. Thomas Chulski was born Aug. 6, 1921, in Grand Rapids, MI, the son of Mary (Frankowski) and Thomas Chachulski. He attended a one-room country school on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, and graduated from Creston High School in 1939. He attended Catholic Junior College in Grand Rapids and then completed a Bachelor of Science degree at Michigan State University. He entered the U.S. Army Air Force in 1942 and served in the Pacific theater during World War II as a radar operator in a B-17G. He was honorably discharged in 1945. He returned to Michigan State University and earned a master of science and a doctorate degree in chemistry. Tom married Catherine Lucille Braunschneider in Grand Rapids on Aug. 16, 1947. Then moved to Aurora, IL, where Tom worked in the thorium rare earth industry. They then moved to Kalamazoo, where Tom worked as a research chemist for the Upjohn Company for 11 years. In 1963 the Chulskis moved to Big Rapids and Tom began a 27-year tenure teaching chemistry at Ferris State University. He retired from FSU in 1990. Tom was active in Republican Party politics at the local, county and state level. He was also active in promoting pro-life causes. Following Lucille’s death in 2007, Tom moved to Kalamazoo and lived there until he died Dec. 18, 2013. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Lucille, his daughter Mary Chulski, his brother Karl Chulski, and his grandson Daniel Patrick Chargo. He is survived by his children, Tom (Becky) Chulski of Oshkosh, WI, Tori (Jim) Riley of Jefferson, IA, Richard (Ginger Royston) of Lansing, Christine (Douglas) Ross of Cincinnati, OH, and Kate Hardigan of Kalamazoo; 13 grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Friends will be received Sunday, December 22, 2013 at 3-6 pm at the Redmond Funeral Home, 4100 S. Westnedge Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49008, (269)343-6156, Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Catherine of Sienne Church on Monday December 23, 2013 at 11 am. Interment will be at Highland View Cemetery in Big Rapids, MI. Memorial contributions may be made to Michigan Right to Life or Southern Care Hospice. www.redmondfuneralhomes.net