Patrick O. Culp, age 39, of Bellingham, passed away Monday, August 9, 2004 in Bellingham as the result of complications from recent surgery. He was born April 3, 1965 to Alben and Beverly (Weatherby) Culp. Pat attended Bellingham High School and later lived and worked in Santa Cruz, California. He loved the California sunshine, competed for the Giro bicycle race team, and hiked the Sierra mountains.
He returned to Bellingham in recent years to work and attend Bellingham Technical College. He enjoyed bike riding in the San Juans and was an avid racing fan.
He is survived by his brother Steven Culp of Everett.
A graveside service will be held in his honor on Wednesday, August 18 at 11:00 am at Greenacres|Moles Cemetary.
The family welcomes your comments and thoughts at the online guest book at
http://www.greenacresmoles.com.
Guestbook for Patrick Oscar Culp
08/16/04 Clayton & Edna Carr
Address: 2823 Summer Street
City: Bellingham
State: WA
From Clayton & Edna Carr, for Patrick Oscar Culp
It was a shock for us to read about Pat's passing. He still had so much of his life ahead of him. We have many fond memories of Pat, going back to his grade school and middle school days . He was at our home often, and he and our son Randy built a clubhouse up in our garage. We took Pat along with us on a trip to Disneyland and he was just a great guy to have around. Our deepest condolences to you, Steve.
08/16/04 Kathy
State: WA
From Kathy, for Patrick Oscar Culp
I also knew Pat during our high school days. He was like me ...not a big fan of school, but liked the friends there. He was a sweet-heart of a guy and I was so sad to hear about him and what had happened. God bless his family!
08/16/04 Christine Munchalfen
State: WA
Email: cmuenchhalfen@msn.com
From Christine Munchalfen, for Patrick Oscar Culp
Pat and I dated in High School, I still remember our prom night like it was yesterday, he and I lost touch after I moved back to California, I will miss him deeply, he was a wonderful person with a heart of gold. I thought it strange that I awoke this morning to read about it in the newspaper, I never read the paper but a voice told me to read, I take that as Pat's way of telling me, he is still with us. My deepest heartfelt sympathy goes out to Mom and the family. Pat I know your here still because I read the paper for the first time, I know that was you telling me to read it. I will always have a place in my heart for you, Christine
08/17/04 Mike and Laurie Morris
Address: 829 Blueberry LN.
City: Bellingham
State: WA
Email: Morrisbr@comcast.net
From Mike and Laurie Morris, for Patrick Oscar Culp
Mike and I have many great memories of Pat. He had the biggest heart and the smile to match. And always encouraged Mike and I to stay together. (We were high school sweethearts and 20 years later we are still together) We were so shocked to here of his passing It has reminded us how precious each day is and how important our loved ones are. He will be missed. Our thoughts and prayers our with you and your family.
I am writing this email to everyone to remind us all how important it is to keep in touch with those around us and to tell your loved ones how you feel about them each and every moment in your life, dont let time pass you by, life is too short, I want all of you to know on this day that I care deeply for each and every one of you and that I truley love all of you.
This week is a week of healing for me, a week of realization of how precious our time is here together and how short a time we all have together here. I have learned alot in a short time this last week on life and how precious a gift it is to receive.
Monday morning I woke to another day in my boring life, at least I thought life was getting boring after my car accident, I have become such a homebody and dont go out and do the things I used to do, you all know me as a go go go type of person, and just the other day I was complaining about how boring my life was to my Mom, well its not that boring after all, its a precious gift and I am now thankful for the time I have here to be bored LOL
So I wake Monday morning, I hear a voice in my head to read the Bellingham Herald Obituaries, well I have not read the Bellingham Herald in years, I never read the paper, I tried to count how many years its been since I did read the paper and I have 10 fingers so thats where i stopped, I just dont read the paper, so anyway I go online and read the obituaries, get down to about the 4th and read the name Patrick Oscar Culp, I stared at the name for a minute in disbelief, no this cant be, not Pat!
After a few minutes it sunk in, yes this is Pat.
Let me tell you a bit about Pat.
Pat was my very first Boyfriend, my first love, my first bestfriend, he and I dated in high school, we were in love, glad to be around eachother and had alot of fun together, he took me to the High School prom, I remember it like it was yesterday, this was 21 years ago, wow how time flys by us all! Anyway Pat and I had a great relationship together that was cut short, I had to move back to California within the few months we spent together, Pat and I kept in touch by writing letters back and forth, but as long distance relations go, the letters get fewer and farther between as time passes us by.
We lost touch completely.
in 1992 I moved back to Bellingham, Wa , the first thing I did was call Pats mom to find him, she told me he had moved to California and gave me his phone # and address, I called him and we were once again in touch with each other, we wrote and sent pictures back and forth, but once again we were seperated by distance. I kept going with my life and eventually moved back to California, only to find out later that Pat had moved back to Washington, again, missed each other! I later moved back to Washington for good to plant my feet finally, I had learned that Pats Mother had died so did not bother to try to get ahold of anybody at the house, figuring it was not in the family anymore, I gave up on finding Pat once again.
Well Pat came to me in Spirit Monday morning, he told me to read the obituaries, he wanted me to know he passed on and wanted me to be at his funeral, I have never had such a strong contact of spirit from the other side, but I truley beleive now that we dont die, we just move along to another place, I dont know if any of you have ever heard or felt a spirit, but it is suggestion, intuition, its thought, its feeling, its emotion, they all = energy, our spirit is pure energy, you dont hear them verbally with your ears, you hear them with all of your other scenses, I called Pats brother Monday, he told me how Pat passed away, Pat went in for surgery to have his appendix removed, he came home and was doing well, his brother said that Pat went to lay down to sleep and Pat never woke up, the medical report says Pat contracted Rapid Pnemonia through the surgery, he said it is rare but it does happen, Pat was 39 years old.
Tuesday comes along, Pat is with me the whole day, it feels like I am in a dream, he is talking to me all day, suggestions, thought, intuition, emotions, feelings run through me all day long, he is telling me things, things I will keep to myself at this time.
Wednsday comes, its the day of Pats funeral. I get up at 3am, clean up and catch the 6am ferry, this is the most beautiful day I have ever seen in my life, its so unbeleivable, I am sitting outside on the boat, Venus is in the sky to start my day off, bright and beautiful she is this morning, the sun is just getting ready to rise, the sky is turning shades of pinks and purples, there is dead silence outside on the boat and I am the only person on earth sitting there, there is a fog hovering above the water surrounding one of the islands as we pass it by, I am looking at all the beauty surrounding my soul when I hear an eagle singing, I look straight in front of me and there is an eagle sitting right there in front of me singing, I take in the fresh air and its warm and very comforting, about 30 minutes later I go to my truck, we are almost there, when the Captain announces over the speaker that just a mile ahead a pod of killer whales is approaching, I go to the wondow and look out and there were about 10 whales, their sprays creating a mist as they danced through the waters, I began to cry, this morning was created for me, created to show me how beautiful life really is, how we take all the simple things that cost us nothing for granite, a man walked up to me and said, what a beautiful site, how wonderful to see a pod of whales, then asked me why I was crying, I told him of Pat and where I was headed to this day, he asked me to tell him a little about Pat, I went to my truck and got our prom picture and showed the man, he said to me, he looks like he was a very nice person, the man told me of a lost love he was searching for, I told him to not give up and try to find her as soon as he could, he shook my hand and we said goodby.
I made it to the place where Pat was to be burried, first I stopped by the store and bought a bunch of flowers, flowers that were the color of the sunrise I had just saw, they were done in purples, pinks and mauves, with little blue babysbreath in the center for the blue sky above, I went to the funeral home and there was Pats brother Steve, he hugged me and asked me if I was ok, I said no I am not ok and I lost it, I was crying uncontrollably, a deep sorrow overcame me, a feeling of what if, a feeling of regret, grief, sorrow, guilt, if only we had kept in touch, if only I had been there, I could of got him help, why did he have to die alone, if only, if only.
Steve asked me if he could walk me out to the gravesite where we would be having the ceremony, I accepted and we walked across the lawn and graves, as I looked at the ground I found two raven feathers, they are with our prom picture now.
People began to show up, people I recognized, people I had not seen in 20 years, some recognized me, Jes who was Pats good friend came up to me in shock, we had not seen each other in so long, but immediatly recognized each other, he hugged me so tight with so much love and warmth and said to me "Pat talked about you alot" "He still has your pictures hanging up on his wall" "He never married" I began to cry again, I told Jes that pat found me, he found me Monday morning, he told me to read the paper, this is not how I wanted us to find eachother again! We had the service for Pat, people told stories that made us laugh and the silly things he would do for fun through his life, I could not speak, for what we had was special and between the two of us, I will keep Pats memories sacred in my soul. As we were ending the ceremony 2 F18 fighter jets flew over us really low, Pat loved planes, he used to build model airplanes and had them all in his room, when the 2 jets flew over everyone made an ooohhhawwwww sound and I could hear people saying, that was Pat, he loved planes, that was Pat, he is here, I knew he was there, I had felt him the last 3 days with me.
Some people brought photo albums with pictures of Pat, I looked through them and felt some unreal feelings I have never felt before, I showed everyone our prom picture and was told that this copy is still hanging on the wall at his house. I sad my goodbys to everyone and gave hugs to all, as I was walking back to my truck alone through the graveyard, 2 fighter jets flew over me, once again, I take that as Pat telling me thank you, thanking me for being there for him at the end of his life.
As I was walking to my truck, Jes invited me out to breakfast with the gang from High School, I accepted and met them all for breakfast, we exchanged phone #s and email addresses and we are planning a party for the end of summer up on the mountain with tents and a bonfire.
After breakfast, I went back to the gravesite to say goodby to Pat, I told him how I felt about him through the years and also told him to go home, to be happy and free and that I would see him again soon, as i was driving back home, I had a vision of Pat, he was standing on top of big white fluffy clouds with many shades of blue in the sky, he was waving at me, he was smiling, he was waving goodby.
I guess why i am writing this email to everyone, is because i dont want to ever feel this again in my life, the hurt and pain is overwhelming, I want all of us to keep in close touch with one another and to never take one single last day for granite, we are here for a short time and I beleive we are all connected forever, there is an attachment to each and every one of us that cannot be broken and to let time pass is a big mistake, we have this moment and only this moment in time to tell the ones around us how much we love and care about them and appreiciate them and please dont let time pass you by, I learned the hard way and I dont want any of you to ever have to feel this hurt, I want all of us to leave this world knowing we were truley loved and cared about and when it comes my time to pass, no tears, just happiness ok.
I love you all so much with all of my heart and soul, peace be with you all XOXOXOXO Christine
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