May 19, 2012 

Yesterday, we lost a great father, husband, contractor, farmer, raconteur,

Caribou Club member, and unconditional friend

Tim Culp

Tim died of a heart attack in Redding, shortly after returning from a few weeks in his native San Fernando Valley visiting his daughters,

Alexis and Ashley,

along with his many Valley friends.

If you have any photos or memories of Tim, this is the place to post: geneventura@sbcglobal.net

 Photo above taken May 5, 2012, Santa Monica (Paul A)

          My dad was a great father, brother, uncle and friend.  He always had an infectious laugh, knew soo much about everything and anything, loved my sister and I with all his heart and lived life like a kid trapped in an adults body. 

          There's a great deal I want to say, but feel that there is no amount of time or space to completely fill my thoughts about my dad.  He wasn't a complicated man, lived simply and always showed and demonstrated that he cared about the people around him, including having an uncanny knack of always seeing the bigger picture in things.  His jokes were hysterical and most of the time not "PC", that's one thing he always loved doing because it made others laugh and happy for a second. 

          His kind heart and generosity is what stood out the most.  Always the first to lend a hand with anything or help someone in need.  Upon speaking with many of his friends and hearing the great stories that they had, I realized that they too noticed and acknowledged these same qualities in him. 

          My parents were not rich by any means-they made do with what they had and lived as such.  Their relationship was rocky at times, but also very special and amazing the other times.  They weren't perfect, but were perfect for each other even after their separation 20+ years ago-stubbornness and all, lol.  My dad was a family man-always wanted better for us than what he had growing up.  He worked very hard as a contractor for over 30 years and built some of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen.  I remember him driving me around Beverly Glen and showing me some of his older projects. I was astounded that he was able to build a home on the side of a cliff and have it withstand earthquakes.

          My dad never wanted his family and friends to be sad especially during his passing.  He always said, "just give me an Irish wake so you can sit me up, say what you want to say and celebrate my life".  He was the best dad and friend Alexis and I could have ever asked for.  His smile, laugh and love for life will never be forgotten and remains within us.  Love and miss you tons daddy.

Below, the gang of walkers at Santa Monica Pier

Rudy, Tim, Bill, Jeff, Paul, Jack, John

Tim, The Real Mountain Man

We all have funny stories about Tim,
This was the Tim I knew

Tim Moved to our neighborhood in the late 70's. He was a hard working carpenter  who worked about 60 hours per week and partyed on the weekends.
He and his wife Rickey had one baby girl (Alexis)  and one on the way (Ashely).(There is an ASH TREE planted the month of her birth in the front yard). They were a quiet family with family dreams of fixing up the house and
raising a family.
Tim had a special talent of being able to design in his head what he wanted, and then go and complete the task, including drawing the picture of what he
wanted and building it. Katherine Avenue has many of his ideas, from the back house and garage at his residence, to Rudy and Norma's front porch, or Marge Foster's house, (now Giovani's back room), to Ron and Jenny's patio, or my dormer windows on my house and garage.
His boss Al Homer knew of this talent and used Tim for ideas for many famous stars' homes, the most famous being Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews' home.
Tim's favorite job he did was a 50 Bed Hospital on Chapman Avenue in Orange County. Tim had figured out how to build the Third floor of a three story entry on the ground and crane it up to place it on an existing 2nd floor.
It is a beautiful work of art and it saved Al Homer probably $100 000 in labor.
The Culps split up in the 90 s and it wasn't a pretty breakup.
Tim moved out but continued to take care of his girls. He would have them on weekends and buy them anything they wanted. He was a single dad. He would party on weekends with the guys,
 He lived to work and would drink a 12 pack of Keystone a day and eat Burritos from the Roach Coaches. He spent no money on himself and just about lived in his black van.
He gained a lot of weight (he weighed in at over 300 pounds). His belt broke so he cut a piece of rope and that is what he used to hold his pants up.
He started going to his ranch in 2000 in Northern Cal and started FARMING his CROP. He went out on his own with the carpentry and did OK for the next 10 years.
He gave up the carpentry and semi retired about 5 years ago.  He stopped drinking and became a vegetarian. He lost about 130 pounds and had a hip operation.
 He was on a health kick and was walking and jogging three miles per day. He was in great spirits and was enjoying his retirement.
 He had just bought a new computer and was planning on moving back to the Valley near HIS GIRLS

He was a happy Caribou and maybe this is the way we should all go

Jeff 

Above, Tim holds a plaque from his car club in 'Fernando!

Cinco de Mayo, 2012

Tim was a special guy even in our teens. We were both members of the car club the "Valley Undertakers". I sold Tim a 1957 Plymouth Fury (Low-rider)  and got a 1957 Chevy.

I first met Tim Culp in the 70's when he and is wife Ricki and their daughter Alexis, (Ashley was on the way), lived across the street from Jeff & Penny Meyer in Van Nuys. Penny wanted gable dormers on the second story of her house, no small job, so Tim was conscripted to do the job, with me as his assistant. Under Tim's direction, we made trapezoidal cuts, we made parallelogram cuts, we used worm drive Skillsaws and 32 oz Vaughan framing hammers and assembled the dormers by knocking out the second story roof, all on weekends, when the building inspectors wouldn't drive by to bust us.

Today, when you drive by the Meyer house and you see those beautiful second story windows, think of Tim.

(He also did the second story of the garage at the Meyer Rancho Van Nuys).

Tim was always there, through 4th of Julys, water balloon fights between kids and adults, trips to Mexico, and all around life in the neighborhood.

How do you replace him? You can't!  So long, Tim.

Gene Meyer

Above, the Van Nuys Braintrust,

Jeff, John, & Tim

sorting out everything on Tim's Vaio in Rudy & Norma's living room

Below: Happy times in Sunny Acres, when both Jeff and Tim weighed more!

Timothy Ray Culp

Loving Father (Alexis and Ashley)

Devoted Husband up to the end to

His late wife Lorraine (Rikki)

World’s Most Creative Contractor

Redding Pot Farmer

Gifted Storyteller

Caribou Club Sage

Survivor of San Fernando High School

Unconditional Friend

Born: September 7, 1946

Died: May 18, 2012

Favorite song:

“Sultans of Swing”  Dire Straits

Other Quotes:

“All I ask for each day is a clean break!”

"Just give me an Irish wake so you can sit me up,

say what you want, and celebrate my life.”

So long, Tim. Here's hoping you find your clean break in the hereafter