Kulwicki, Martin
(Nov. 10, 1859 - )
For over a century, the Polish historians and genealogists of Detroit, Michigan, did not pay much attention to Martin Kulwicki. He was born in Poznan, Poland, the son of John and Wilhelmina Kulwicki, and was seven years younger than the oldest boy in the family. The family emigrated to Detroit around 1873. The two boys, without much schooling, immediately went to work. Martin was a cigar maker for 15 years, and John became a boilermaker.The change in their lives is a bit fuzzy. Still in his twenties, whether a priest, a housewife, a stranger, or the lack of a Polish undertaker in Detroit suggested it, Martin Kulwicki quit his job in a cigar factory to go into the undertaking business with his brother. He earned a diploma from the newly established Barnes School of Embalming in Chicago. By the time the Mount Olivet Cemetery on the east side of Detroit was opened in 1888 for the burial of Catholics, the Kulwicki Brothers Funeral Home was anchored across the street from the first Polish church in Detroit. With the growth of the city the business expanded rapidly and, as is common in Polish neighborhoods, the streets around each church were dotted with funeral parlors, photographers, and florists. Martin Kulwicki brought other members of his family into the undertaking business. He had nine children with Anastasia Sienkowski, whom he married June 6, 1887, and two of them, Theodore, who was born March 31, 1892, and Joseph, July 25, 1897, eventually joined him in the business and literally pushed John Kulwicki into other pursuits. But in the time of the First World War he was an inspector at Ford Motor Company in Highland Park.
The varied backgrounds of those the Kulwickis buried were typical of the Polish population of Detroit. Whether or not they embalmed them, three Polish congressmen up to now were interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery - the first John Lesinski in 1950, George G. Sadowski in 1961, and Thaddeus Machrowicz in 1970. It was also the graveyard for at least five other congressmen as well as Polish cultural, business, and religious leaders.
Martin Kulwicki joined several organizations, supported the Democrats, and opposed the use of tobacco and alcohol; When he died, Joseph Kulwicki took over the business and named it after himself.
From: Edward Pinkowski (2009)