Theodore William Kulze

Obituary

Theodore William Kulze

September 16, 1948 to May 25, 2024

Theodore "Ted" Kulze passed away May 25, 2024, surrounded by loved ones after a battle with cancer at the age of 75. Ted was born on September 16, 1948, in Jamaica, Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City, to Rosemarie and Emerson Kulze. He spoke fondly of his childhood growing up on Long Island in the house on Church Street with his parents and sister "Susie"/Susan. As a child Ted lived in Germany and truly loved his time there. His Lederhosen are still a proud item in the household. Ted was very athletic and lettered at Roslyn High in Cross Country. After graduating high school, he traveled, and lived, all over the country. From forestry school in Florida to studying Etymology at Utah State University in Cache Valley until he ultimately settled in Ten Sleep, Wyoming. Ted celebrated his experiences and times with various friends including Keith Harding, John Karasinski & Joel Lucks as well as travels in his van, but was incredibly happy to live in Ten Sleep with the Big Horn National Forest as his backyard. He called it "God's Country" and said he would not want to live anywhere else.

His sister Susie had this to say about her brother: "Because Ted and I lived on opposite sides of the country for most of our adult lives, we didn't keep in touch as much as we could have. We sometimes take our family members for granted and think they will always be there. But life goes on and time slips away. So I am glad that we had a chance to reconnect in the last year-and-a-half and spend many hours on the phone sharing our childhood memories. Living in Germany for a year, riding our bikes up to the candy store on Washington Avenue, hiding up in Ted's room on Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to arrive, watching "The Crawling Eye" together as kids, driving up to Canada in Ted's "hippie" van in the early 1970s, and of course, all those wonderful times in Roslyn. I was proud to have had you as my big brother and will miss you. Rest in Peace."

Ted and Allen Firnekas carpooled together for decades to the sugar factory and struck up an unlikely but deeply meaningful friendship. Allen had this to say about his experience at the factory: "Ted worked at Holly Sugar and started as a panel operator soon after hiring on. They kept him on for work in loading rail cars after campaign was over and that was manually stacking 100 Lb. bags in the warehouse and railroad cars for shipping.

It was not long before his effort and hard work was recognized, and he was added to the year- round crew list. He added to his knowledge as extra station man then when the opportunity came up bid on and was made Beet end foreman, the position he stayed in until his retirement.

Ted excelled as beet end foreman and although he was asked a few times to become a Shift supervisor, was content with his beet end foreman position. He was detail oriented and no numbers on lab sheets escaped his notice. He was always striving to keep the process in the correct specifications.

Over the years in the inter- campaign summer season Ted gained skills in cutting and welding and spent most of his time inside the diffuser, a vital piece of equipment for the extraction of the raw juice from the beet. He was keen on inspecting and replacing worn parts and it was not an easy job.

There again attention to detail and meticulous record keeping served the company well. From time to time, skills he learned prior to working at the factory pouring concrete in Utah came in handy as well.

The company name changed over the years from Holly to Imperial Holly, then Wyoming Sugar, when Ted retired. Ted made lots of friends over the years at the factory, earning a high level of respect with peers and those in corporate level management."

Ted's work at the sugar factory led to him meeting his soulmate in 1982. Paule (Helias) was working a campaign and had fainted. Ted swept her up in his arms and the first thing she saw when she came to was his beautiful green eyes. Ted said that he knew he was going to be with Paule the rest of his life the very first time they kissed. Their romance was a whirlwind leading to them getting married on May 16, 1983. Their daughter Jessica was born in 1984 and their son Rob in 1986.

Ted's father Emerson wrote to Rosemarie saying that he had hoped their children had a love for nature before Ted and Susan were born. This came to fruition for generations of the family.

Ted spent most of his free time hiking all over the badlands, hunting arrowheads with Rob and checking out old dumps to track down Old Spice bottles, Coke bottles and various other items. Rob and Ted had a quite impressive collection of arrowheads from their hikes all over the badlands. They both had an eye for finding arrowheads and various scrapers. Ted loved fishing, hiking, explaining insects and enjoying his ever-growing record and memorabilia collections. The family spent a lot of time in the summers frequenting yard sales, thrift and antique stores which led to some amazing finds.

Ted's experience in Cross Country helped Jessica with her Track & Field experience in Middle and High School. Hours, and seasons, were spent practicing various techniques for field events and bonding over their love of the sport. Ted would get off work at the factory and spend hours with Jess at the track. Ted never missed a track meet and would often ride on the bus if he did not have to work.

Ted never met a stranger and truly enjoyed speaking with everyone. Anytime he saw a vehicle with New York plates he would start asking who the New Yorker was and his accent would get very thick, to his children's delight. As much as he loved the Big Horn Basin you could not take the New Yorker out of him. His son and daughter grew up being quizzed regarding the five boroughs of New York City because he insisted, they had to know since he was from Long Island.

After retiring from the sugar beet plant, he worked at Circle J with Jessica. This experience was life changing for them and something they spoke about until just before Ted's passing. He then started working for Ten Sleep School. He truly loved being "Mr. Ted" and his experiences working at the school, especially after how arduous the factory was. He bonded with so many and made a deep impact on the staff, and children, of the school. This experience was very healing for him after the passing of his son.

Ted loved being a father and excelled at being a grandfather. His first grandchild was Camren, followed by Maycee (Rob's children) and Robert (Jessica's son). Camren had this to say about his grandpa: "I'm forever gonna miss my grandpa's smile and goofy attitude towards life. He was always there for me whether it'd be as a grandfather or as a buddy. He may be gone, but we'll always be thinking about him."

Maycee called Ted "Poppet" and had this to say about him: "He is one of the best Poppets that I have. We used to play ball in the street. I miss him." Baby Robert called Ted "Bopa" and they both truly enjoyed the brief time they had together.

Ted was diagnosed with Metastatic Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma in the fall of 2022. He had two brain surgeries, two full brain radiation treatments, targeted lung radiation as well as chemotherapy and immunotherapy. He still maintained being his silly self and was able to meet his newest grandson "Lil Rob" prior to his passing.

He was preceded in death by his father, Emerson, his mother, Rosemarie, his son, Rob as well as various grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Ted is survived by his beloved wife, Paule, daughter, Jessica, honorary daughter, Vanessa and grandchildren, Camren, Maycee and Robert, as well as his sister, Susan and numerous cousins. He was loved, and admired, by his in-laws. A host of friends are left behind that span the globe.

A Celebration of Life will be held May 25, 2025, in Ten Sleep, Wyoming with more details to be released in the future digitally and in the newspaper. Online condolences may be made at www.bryantfuneralhomeonline.com.

"Ted Kulze The Man The Myth The Legend"

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