Frank Kulas

Frank S. Kulas, 90, of Bettendorf, died Friday, May 15, 2015 at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf.

Funeral Services & Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Bettendorf where he was a member.  Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until the time of the services on Tuesday at the church.  Burial will be in Rock Island National Cemetery.  Memorials may be made to the Bettendorf Public Library or to the church.

Frank was born July 13, 1924 in Easthampton, Massachusetts, the son of Mikolaj & Eva (Syzka) Kulas.  He grew up in a farming community in the Connecticut River valley, growing tobacco and asparagus.  He was also a dedicated Boston Red Sox fan from the age of 12.  Frank served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, and was honorably discharged in 1946.  He was united in marriage to Elizabeth “Bette” Pattison on April 22, 1957 in Niagara Falls, New York.

Frank was employed as a mechanical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Saturn Rocket program in Huntsville, Alabama; and the command office at the Rock Island Arsenal.  He was a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees and the American Legion.  A gentleman and a gentle man, he will be remembered as a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

Those left to honor his memory include his wife, Bette; his daughters, Helen Kulas and her husband, Greg Mokrzycki of Glen Ellyn, Illinois and Kathleen & Christian Carson of Columbia, Missouri; his grandchildren, Sam and Christine Carson; and his great-grandson, Tyler.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his sister, Helen Miastkowski; and his brothers, Chester and Stanley.