Isidore Kulkin

1921 - 2016

August 1921 - November 2016 Isidore ("Isi") Kulkin was born in August 15, 1921, in Vilna, Lithuania. He grew up in a comfortable home, surrounded by many loving family members. When the Nazis invaded, he and his family were imprisoned within the walls of the Vilna Ghetto and Isi lost many relatives and friends. On the day the Ghetto was liquidated, Isi escaped through the city sewers into the nearby forest to join Jewish Partisans under the command of Abba Kovner. He fought against the Nazis and marched into Vilna on the day it was liberated. Following the end of WWII, he made his way through Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe to Italy, where, in 1949, he met Rosette Globen, a beautiful young French woman with whom he fell in love at first sight. They married in Paris in 1950 and later moved to Nice, where their daughter Sylvie was born. In 1962 the family immigrated to Los Angeles, where Isi and Rosette made many friends and built a thriving social life. Already fluent in eight languages, Isi quickly mastered English and built a successful jewelry importing business. Isi was well-known locally as a master player of Pétanque, a French game similar to bocce ball, and was beloved by many for his dry wit and pragmatic advice. Isi and Rosette had an exceptionally loving and devoted marriage lasting 66 years. Isi is survived by his wife Rosette, his daughter Sylvie (Charlie), and relatives in Israel. He had a quiet and well-earned peaceful death at the age of 95. Donations in his memory may be made to a Jewish organization of your choice.