Gulli Kula: Former Lexington Resident, MIT Chemist from Sweden Dies at 86

The following obituary is from Dee Funeral Home:

Gulli Ingegerd Kula, of Concord, formerly of Lexington, passed away peacefully on December 12th of natural causes, while surrounded by her family. She was 86 years old.

She was born on March 30, 1928 in Skenshyttan, Sweden, the eldest child of Evert and Elsie Ahs. She graduated from Stockholm’s Pharmaceutical Institute in 1950.

While working as a pharmacist in Borlange, Sweden, she met her husband, Eric B. Kula. She immigrated to the United States in 1951, and married Eric three days later on Jan 28, 1951. She worked as a lab technician and chemist, including positions at MIT. Her training in botany during pharmacy school was expressed in her lifetime of beautiful gardens. She graduated from Harvard University in 1988 with a Master’s Degree in Anthropology. Her study of ancient Peruvian textiles resulted in her Master’s thesis “Chancay Textiles in the Young Peruvian Collection (1988).”

She was a weaver of great skill and creativity. She was an active member of the Weavers’ Guild of Boston from the early 1970s, achieving the status of Journeyman Weaver. Her membership in the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society and the Lexington Weavers’ Guild began in 1971, considered by the Society as a Master Craftsman. She also participated in the Wednesday Weavers, a study group of ten weavers. One weaver friend remarked on, “her wisdom, inner quiet, and strength,” and that “her great aesthetic sensibility and weaving skill made her a mentor for all who knew her.”

She was an active member of SARA, the Swedish Ancestry Research Association. She returned to Sweden countless times over the years, maintaining close contact with her family. Many of her trips were in the summer, in order to escape the heat of the American summer and to enjoy the many wildflowers of Sweden. She traveled widely through the world, including trips to Central and South America and Africa.

Gulli was preceded in death by her sister Ulla, and her parents Elsie and Evert Ahs. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Eric Kula, her children Judy Walklet and Lars Kula, her brother Leif Ahs, son-in-law Jack Walklet, and grandchildren Miles and Nicole Kula and Johanna, Sophia, Lara, Benji and Merav Walklet. She is remembered by her many close friends and fellow weavers.

Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, December 21st from 1 to 4 PM in the Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford Street, Concord.

A memorial service is planned for the spring, and interment will be at Silvberg Church, in Grangshammar, Sweden in the summer.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Gulli’s name to Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, 66 Winthrop St, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Arrangements under the care of Dee Funeral Home of Concord, Susan M. Dee and Charles W. Dee, Jr., Funeral Directors.

To share a remembrance in the online guest book, please visit www.deefuneralhome.com.