Daniel "Dan" Kulas

Daniel J. “Dan” Kulas, age 75, of St. Anna, passed away after a year-long battle with cancer on Sunday, July 2, 2023 surrounded by his family at the St. Cloud Hospital. He made his journey to heaven to see Jesus, his parents, relatives, and friends.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 10 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in St. Anna with Rev. Gregory Mastey officiating. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.

Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday and from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Monday at the church in St. Anna. Parish prayers will be at 2 p.m. followed by a rosary from the Holdingford Knights of Columbus at 4 p.m. Sunday evening.

Daniel James Kulas was born April 2, 1948 to Stanis and Mary (Langner) Kulas. He attended country school to the 8th grade and went on to Holdingford High School where he graduated in 1966. He went to work at St. Cloud Meat Packing until 1969 where he learned to cut and handle meat. He then went to St Cloud Vo-Tech for a month-long welding course. Daniel worked at Stearns Welding Inc. in Winsted, MN. He then went on to work for Paper Calmenson & Co. in St Paul where he helped to fabricate and weld 20 floors of the IDS tower.

Dan married Linda Henning in 1971 and had 4 children, Julieann, Joann, Jill, and Michael. They later divorced. In 1974, Dan returned to the family farm where he farmed crops and milked 48 cows until 1998 when he sold off the cows. He then worked for Archer Daniels until suffering an injury that made him retire. He then started All Saints Septic Service until retiring in 2021.

Dan loved to hunt and fish with his children and friends through the years. His son Michael had many adventures and stories to tell that will live on for family to laugh and learn from. In the winter, he liked to go spearing in a dark house where he speared many big northern pike, some over 20lbs. Dan hunted with shotgun, muzzle loader, and rifle at the swamp on the family farm. He hunted and yielded many big bucks and does off the property. Dan was a good marksman and loved long range shooting with rifle the best. He loved to play cards, especially Texas Hold’em and spent many Thursdays at Whitney Center in St. Cloud playing cards.

He was a member of St. Anna Sportsman’s Club for many years. He was an influence in removing carp that took over Pelican and Pine Lakes. He was a member of the Albany Knights of Columbus Father Pierz Council #3628 and then transferred to the Holdingford Knights of Columbus St. Isadore Council #9307. Dan was a very proud member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in St. Anna and of the family farm in St Anna. He was a storyteller about family history and read non-fiction books about wars, religion, history, and politics. He was avid about talking about these subjects and had many debates about them all.

Survivors include his children, Michael Kulas of Avon, Julieann (Christopher) Willie of Becker, Joann (Dave Malikowski) Schmitz of St. Stephen, and Jill Walker of South Dakota; grandchildren, Abigail and Alyssa Willie and Wyatt Schmitz; sisters, Bernadette (Ray) Pintok of Opole and Madonna Nentl of Holdingford; many nieces and nephews, loving relatives, and friends.

Dan was preceded in death by his parents, Stanis and Mary Kulas; son-in-law, Raymond Walker; infant brother, Joseph Kulas; brother-in-law, Melvin Nentl; nephews, John Nentl and Don Neis; and many other relatives.