August 10, 1925 – November 20, 2023
Family & friends are respectfully invited to a visitation on Monday, November 27th, from 9-11 am in the
Vertuccio Smith & Vazza Beechwood Home for Funerals, 262 Beach St, Revere for Shurley M. (Welch)
Kulakowski. Shurley died peacefully on Monday, November 20th at Hathorne Hill Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Danvers, following a long illness. She was 98. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:30 am in
Ave Maria Parish (OLA), 17 Grove St, Lynnfield. Interment immediately following in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Peabody.
Shurley was born in Boston on August 10, 1925, to her late parents, Harold H. & Marie L. (Better) Welch.
She was raised in Beachmont with her brother and sister, and graduated from Revere High School, Class
of 1943. She then began working for Northeast Airlines. This job changed her life, for it is where she would meet, fall in love, and later marry her husband, Thomas Kulakowski. Shurley and Tom were
married in 1948. Over the next eight years, they became the loving & proud parents of four children.
Shurley cherished being a wife and mother, and embraced all that came along with parenthood.
When she returned to work some years later, Shurley became a part-time hostess at the Golden Dome
Restaurant on Beacon Hill, a popular lunch spot for legislators and staff working at the State House.
When she learned of an overnight position as a Lockbox administrator at Shawmut Bank, she applied,
knowing it would be a better fit for her family’s busy lifestyle. Shurley’s career there spanned more than
25 years before she retired in the 80’s.
Shurley enjoyed so many things. Time with family and friends. Travel to new places and far-off lands.
Ballroom dancing. Watching (and recording) golf matches on tv. Cheering on her beloved Red Sox.
Shopping. Chasing down sales and bargains. And selecting just the right gifts and cards for the people
she loved.
But while she took pleasure in all these things, it was family that meant everything to her. When her
daughter Colleen was diagnosed with Lupus in her early 20s, Shurley was right there at her side,
navigating the challenges of this all-encompassing disease. She and Colleen used this time to make the
best of a difficult situation, and formed a very special bond with one another. Colleen would eventually lose the battle with Lupus twenty years later, and while it was devastating for everyone who knew her, it was especially so for Shurley to lose her beloved daughter. Ten years later, she did the same thing for her son Tom after he sustained a life-changing stroke. She would visit him as often as she could, and her
presence gave each of them a sense of happiness & love. Once again, she had to face the passing of a
beloved child. And once again, Shurley showed remarkable grace and strength as she laid her child to
rest. Reminding us all that tomorrow is never promised, but love is forever.
Shurley will be forever missed and loved. She was the beloved wife of the late Thomas E. Kulakowski, Sr.
The loving mother of Karen K Rickershauser & husband Joseph of Reading, Kerry Kulakowski & wife Anna of Lynnfield, and the late Ret Everett Firefighter Thomas E. Kulakowski, Jr. & Colleen R “Gidget”
Kulakowski. The cherished grandmother of Jill Carvalho & husband Carlos, Chip Rickershauser & wife
Lindsey, Kristyn Pardi & Michael Watts, Lauren Cataldo & husband Louis, Sandra L Campbell & husband
US Army NG Major Matthew Campbell, and Katy Kohler & husband Richie of Sutton. The adored great-grandmother of 11 great-grandchildren. She is the dear sister of the late Harold H. Welch & Millie Welch
(deceased at age 3). And the special aunt of John Welch & wife Christine of Canton, and many other
nieces, nephews, grandnieces, & grandnephews.
