James P Kukucka

James Paul Kukucka July 26, 1931 – November 18, 2012"Life is never sweeter to me then when I'm playing a rousing polka and making people happy." "Life is never sweeter to me then when I'm playing a rousing polka and making people happy." "Life is never sweeter to me then when I'm playing a rousing polka and making people happy." "Life is never sweeter to me then when I'm playing a rousing polka and making people happy." Frankie Yankovic said this about performing, and James Kukucka lived his life this way. He enjoyed listening and playing polka music on his accordion. He felt it was happy music and in his more seasoned years, he would introduce himself as “Happy Jimmy”. James Paul Kukucka grew up in Cleveland, Ohio in a large family. He played music for his mother in the kitchen and often snuck his brother’s button box accordion into the barn to practice. When his older brothers were off at war, James kept an eye on all of his sisters. His sisters remained an important part of his family, as he would make sure and call them on every holiday and their birthdays. James and his wife would make several trips back east to visit, golf and occasionally a trip to the casino. While serving as an Air Force military police officer and playing golf over- seas with the officers, his two handicap and out-going personality made for easy connections with other golfers. James made several close friends during his service career and enjoyed reunions when they would laugh and tell old stories. He most enjoyed the reunions in Branson and St. Lewis, Missouri. He moved out to sunny Southern California to work for his brother Al and his construction business. James really enjoyed working with his brother and told many stories of work related mishaps. It was in California on a golf course with Al that he first met his partner in life, Alberta Brenner. One of their dates during the courting process was to see Lawrence Welk with Mr and Mrs. Brenner when visiting from Minnesota. James pulled out all the stops to impress his girl? After finding his future spouse, they began to create their own family in Hawthorne, California. Leonard, Ann, and the twins Steve and Stan became the focus. James and Alberta would have opposite work schedules so that the children were not in daycare. Family was always a cornerstone to how decisions were made. Camping trips to get out of the city and even in the winter of 1974 when James moved from the crowded city of Hawthorne to property in Spokane, Washington in order to provide a better situation to raise his children. James often talked about how proud he was of his children. He taught the values of hard work, loyalty, commitment to family and friends and how to have a good time. James enjoyed sitting on his front deck in the summer, drinking a cold beer and bragging about his golf game. Golf is a game that the entire family learned to enjoy, as James was fun to golf with but he wasn’t the best teacher. When Bert passed in 2006, from a long battle of breast cancer. James was a rock helping his family to “move forward” and always telling the family that “it would be okay”. The family tradition of holidays together continued as meal-time, always at 6pm with no hats, is a valuable part of family. James was an amazing cook, many recipes were “in his head” so if you were lucky enough to have him share them… happy eating. James enjoyed watching two of his children get married; Ann to Donald Lindsey and Steve to Becky Williams. When the five amazing grandchildren came along, Jane, Kate, Mae (Lindsey), Hudson and Bennet (Kukucka) ; James couldn’t have been more proud. James bragged to anyone who listened how great his family was. His granddaughters were sometimes reviewed to as the Lemon Sisters and Hudson was always “his little buddy”. James will be sorely missed as his family continues to evolve and remains a strong unit with similar values. James will be remembered as a talker, the resident polka king and devoted father to his children and their mother.