Edward J. Kulik

Edward J. Kulik, 76, of Longmeadow, MA, died Thursday (December 26, 2002). Born in Hartford, July 17, 1926, he was the son of the late Joseph and Bertha Kulik. He was a graduate of Hartford Public High School and the University of Connecticut. During World War II he served in the Navy Amphibious forces in the South Pacific and China Theaters. He joined the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in 1958 as a mortgage analyst. In 1975 he became a Senior Vice President and Executive Officer. He was President, Chief Executive Officer and Trustee of Mass Mutual Mortgage Investors, a trust listed on the New York and London Stock Exchange, President and Director of Baystate West. He was President of Mass Mutual Realty Development, a Director of Better Homes for Springfield, a corporator of Baystate Medical Center, Governor-at-Large and Member of the Executive Committee of the Mortgage Bankers Association, Chairman of the Finance Committee of Mercy Hospital and member of the Board of Trustees. He was listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in Insurance and Finance. He acted as financial advisor to the Sisters of Providence and the Felician Sisters of Enfield. He was a member of the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. He was a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Real Estate Institute of New York University, a Director of Bay Colony Life Insurance Company of Maryland, President and Director of Mass Mutual Economic and Realty Research, a Member of New York State Employee Retirement System, a member of the Urban Affairs Committee of the National Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Joint Committee on Economic Policy of the American Life Convention and the Insurance Association of America. He testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary on the revision of the Federal Bankruptcy Laws. Upon his retirement from Massachusetts Mutual in 1984, he became President and Chief Executive Officer of Twin City Federal Bank in New York and retired in 1988. He was a member of the Colony Club of Springfield, the Board Room of New York, and Longmeadow Country Club. Mr. Kulik resided in East Longmeadow for 30 years and in Longmeadow for the past 25 years and has been a communicant of St. Mary's Church. He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Marion (Colbert) Kulik, his children, Nancy Holstein of Mystic, Edward J. Kulik Jr. and his wife Mary Beth Kulik of Rye Brook, NY and Betsy Phillips and her husband Claudio Phillips of Chappaqua, NY; his grandchildren, Lauren and Melanie Holstein, Allison, Jason, Jonathan and Michael Kulik, and Aemilia, Robertson, and Nicolas Phillips. The funeral will be Monday, 9:45 a.m. at the Forastiere Smith Funeral Home, 220 North Main Street, East Longmeadow, MA, followed by a Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. in St. Mary's Church, Longmeadow. Burial to follow in Longmeadow Cemetery. Visiting Hours are Sunday, 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to the Radiation Oncology at Baystate Medical Center, 759 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA 01199 or to Brigham and Women's Hospital Rheumatology Therapeutics Fund in care of Dr. Michael Weinblatt, 75 Francis Street Boston, MA 02115. For additional information and directions visit www.ForastiereFuneralHome.com.