Obituary for Howard C. "Howdy" Kulp
Howard C. “Howdy” Kulp, died peacefully in his sleep, at home, early on the morning of Sunday, January 24. He was 92 years old and died of natural causes.
A life-long resident of Ephrata, Howdy was raised by his mother, the late Catherine Sheaffer Rottmund, and his grandmother, Maggie Sheaffer. He is survived by his daughter, Judy, married to Richard Wanner; his son, William, married to the former Sharon Ober and grandchildren, Brett (Marilyn) Wanner, Heather (Steve) Bones, Tyler (Jessica) Kulp, A.J. (Chelsea) Kulp, Jordan Kulp and Carolyn Krasley.
Also surviving are great-grandchildren, Ian Arcudi of Pittsburgh, Addison Wanner and Lena Wanner of Lyme, New Hampshire, Stella Kulp and William Kulp of Salisbury, North Carolina, and Beau Kulp of Smithfield, Virginia.
He was predeceased by a granddaughter, Ashley Renee Kulp, and a great-granddaughter, Rebecca Jayne Wanner.
Howdy began his entrepreneurial career at the age of 10, selling penny candy door to door on the streets of Ephrata. He was 12 years old when he bought his first suit with his penny candy earnings. He shined shoes for 10-cents a pair. As a teen, he set pins at the Owls Hotel bowling lanes, and he worked at Ephrata’s Glen Gery plant. where he pulled hot bricks off the end of a production line.
He left high school to work for Givler’s Grocery Store on State Street and then the Acme Store on Main Street. When he was 24 years old, he bought his own store, Kulp’s IGA, in Stevens. He also briefly owned an IGA in Manheim but sold both those businesses to buy the Manheim Bowling Lanes and Motel in 1969. He retired from the bowling business in 1985 to become a water broker at a time when the American thirst for water in soda-sized bottles was growing by the minute.
His background in the grocery business helped him connect with East Coast grocery wholesalers, and by the time of his second retirement, in 1995, from the water business, he had brokered the sale of thousands of tractor trailer loads of water in single serving bottles.
In 1945, when Howdy was 15 years old, he and a buddy travelled to Philadelphia to attend a performance by Gene Krupa. He was awestruck by the legendary jazz drummer’s musicianship and high energy style. From then on, if Howdy could get a ticket to a Krupa concert, he went. Eventually, Krupa recognized the Ephrata boy as a super fan, called him “the real deal” and welcomed him to many post-performance gatherings in New York and Atlantic City. They remained friends until Krupa’s death in 1973.
Decades before he retired, Howdy became a world traveler. He visited European capitals many times, but his most frequent journeys were to Southeast Asia and Australia. On his Asian trips, he often partnered with a U.S. art dealer who specialized in primitive-style art and handcrafted items from some of the world’s farthest-away places. Howdy traveled to remote villages in Thailand and Burma, mostly, in search of said items. Excitement of the harrowing sort sometimes ensued in those remote visits.
His favorite destination was Australia, his favorite watering hole was the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, and his favorite way to get anywhere was Singapore Air.
Howdy lies today in Ephrata’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, a few blocks from where he was born and raised. His simple headstone notes his name and the years he was among us - garrulous, funny, opinionated, iron-willed and determined to make his mark upon the world, which he most assuredly did. He wanted this marker to simply say “He Lived,” to which his family added “!”.
Memorial contributions in his name will be welcomed by the American Heart Association, Lancaster Division, 4250 Crums Mill Rd., Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA, 17112.
Arrangements by Stradling Funeral Homes, Inc. Akron/Ephrata.
A life-long resident of Ephrata, Howdy was raised by his mother, the late Catherine Sheaffer Rottmund, and his grandmother, Maggie Sheaffer. He is survived by his daughter, Judy, married to Richard Wanner; his son, William, married to the former Sharon Ober and grandchildren, Brett (Marilyn) Wanner, Heather (Steve) Bones, Tyler (Jessica) Kulp, A.J. (Chelsea) Kulp, Jordan Kulp and Carolyn Krasley.
Also surviving are great-grandchildren, Ian Arcudi of Pittsburgh, Addison Wanner and Lena Wanner of Lyme, New Hampshire, Stella Kulp and William Kulp of Salisbury, North Carolina, and Beau Kulp of Smithfield, Virginia.
He was predeceased by a granddaughter, Ashley Renee Kulp, and a great-granddaughter, Rebecca Jayne Wanner.
Howdy began his entrepreneurial career at the age of 10, selling penny candy door to door on the streets of Ephrata. He was 12 years old when he bought his first suit with his penny candy earnings. He shined shoes for 10-cents a pair. As a teen, he set pins at the Owls Hotel bowling lanes, and he worked at Ephrata’s Glen Gery plant. where he pulled hot bricks off the end of a production line.
He left high school to work for Givler’s Grocery Store on State Street and then the Acme Store on Main Street. When he was 24 years old, he bought his own store, Kulp’s IGA, in Stevens. He also briefly owned an IGA in Manheim but sold both those businesses to buy the Manheim Bowling Lanes and Motel in 1969. He retired from the bowling business in 1985 to become a water broker at a time when the American thirst for water in soda-sized bottles was growing by the minute.
His background in the grocery business helped him connect with East Coast grocery wholesalers, and by the time of his second retirement, in 1995, from the water business, he had brokered the sale of thousands of tractor trailer loads of water in single serving bottles.
In 1945, when Howdy was 15 years old, he and a buddy travelled to Philadelphia to attend a performance by Gene Krupa. He was awestruck by the legendary jazz drummer’s musicianship and high energy style. From then on, if Howdy could get a ticket to a Krupa concert, he went. Eventually, Krupa recognized the Ephrata boy as a super fan, called him “the real deal” and welcomed him to many post-performance gatherings in New York and Atlantic City. They remained friends until Krupa’s death in 1973.
Decades before he retired, Howdy became a world traveler. He visited European capitals many times, but his most frequent journeys were to Southeast Asia and Australia. On his Asian trips, he often partnered with a U.S. art dealer who specialized in primitive-style art and handcrafted items from some of the world’s farthest-away places. Howdy traveled to remote villages in Thailand and Burma, mostly, in search of said items. Excitement of the harrowing sort sometimes ensued in those remote visits.
His favorite destination was Australia, his favorite watering hole was the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, and his favorite way to get anywhere was Singapore Air.
Howdy lies today in Ephrata’s Cedar Hill Cemetery, a few blocks from where he was born and raised. His simple headstone notes his name and the years he was among us - garrulous, funny, opinionated, iron-willed and determined to make his mark upon the world, which he most assuredly did. He wanted this marker to simply say “He Lived,” to which his family added “!”.
Memorial contributions in his name will be welcomed by the American Heart Association, Lancaster Division, 4250 Crums Mill Rd., Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA, 17112.
Arrangements by Stradling Funeral Homes, Inc. Akron/Ephrata.