This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/iUI.2ACIB/1970 Message Board Post: January 13, 2004 To those who knew her best, Amy Krulak was the consummate general's wife: a gracious and vivacious blend of parent, hostess and community servant. "She had all the ingredients of a lady," said James C. Haugh, a longtime friend of Mrs. Krulak and her husband, retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Victor "Brute" Krulak. "And she was a dynamo, just like Brute himself." Mrs. Krulak died of complications from pneumonia Friday at Sharp Hospice Care in La Mesa. She was 90. When Gen. Krulak retired in 1968 as commander of Marines in the Pacific, Mrs. Krulak began the first of many years on the board of the San Diego Civic Light Opera, now known as Starlight Musical Theatre. She twice served as Starlight's president – from 1975 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1988. "She was probably the most influential person in having new seats installed at Starlight Bowl 15 years ago," her husband said. The sound of planes approaching Lindbergh Field, which often disrupted Starlight performances in ! Balboa Park, delighted her. "She considered it an advantage," her husband said. "When people would ask her why, she would say, 'Nobody else has this.' " A month before her 80th birthday, Mrs. Krulak joined a chorus line to open the Starlight's preview performance of "42nd Street." "I'm the oldest living tap dancer, now that Ruby Keeler's dead," she told The San Diego Union-Tribune. Dancing in public was nothing new for Mrs. Krulak. "She would dance at the drop of a hat," her husband said. "She loved it almost more than eating." In addition to supporting the Starlight Theatre productions at Balboa Park, Mrs. Krulak applied her energies in fund-raising efforts for the Combined Arts and Education Council of San Diego County (COMBO) and the San Diego Symphony. In the mid-1950s, she served as chairwoman of the San Diego Symphony Ball. Mrs. Krulak was active in the Meals-on-Wheels program for more than 25 years and joined her husband as a co-chair of Senior Adult Services b! anquets to raise funds for the cause. In 1973, Mrs. Krulak took on th e role of chairwoman of the 20th annual Fine Arts Ball at the Fine Arts Gallery in Balboa Park. "Amy was a very persistent fund-raiser when it came to charities," said Peter Ellsworth, a family friend. "She always did it with that infectious smile, making it irresistible. That's why she was so successful." Beginning in 1943, while living in Quantico, Va., the Krulaks hosted annual parties on or near Gen. Krulak's Jan. 7 birthday featuring an exotic beverage they called Fish House Punch. The tradition continued in Honolulu and in Point Loma, where the Krulaks lived for 36 years. Their trademark punch consisted of brandy, rum, lime juice, apple brandy and syrup. It grew less potent over the years to accommodate changing tastes and tolerance but remained a party favorite, said Mary Clark, a longtime friend of the Krulaks'. "Amy was vivacious, outgoing and hospitable, a very lovely hostess," Clark said. "Her parties overflowed with friends. She would be prevailed upon to do ! the hula at some of the parties, and she did it beautifully." For 35 years, Mrs. Krulak also hosted an annual New Year's Day party at the couple's desert retreat in Borrego Springs. The Krulaks later donated their desert property to the San Diego Zoo, another favorite cause. Mrs. Krulak, the daughter of a third-generation naval officer, was born in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 1913. She attended National Cathedral School for Girls, a junior college, and later San Diego State College. In 1932, while her father, Navy Capt. William D. Chandler, was based at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., she met her future husband, a 1934 Annapolis graduate. The Krulaks were married in Washington, D.C., in 1936, the year that Gen. Krulak reported for duty as a second lieutenant at Marine Corps Recruit Depot. During the next 32 years, Mrs. Krulak would accompany her husband to assignments in China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Washington, Virginia and Honolulu. During five ! years in Honolulu, Mrs. Krulak learned to dance the hula, which she al so taught. "I was gone an awful lot," her husband said. "In raising our sons, she was primarily the father. She did double duty. "She ended up with two priests (Episcopal clergymen Victor H. Krulak Jr. and William M. Krulak) and a Marine commandant (Charles Krulak). I would say she did all right." In response to queries about how a military wife raised two future priests, Mrs. Krulak had a ready reply: "God must have thought it was necessary to keep me straight." Mrs. Krulak took up horseback riding in Quantico, Va. "She never enjoyed it, though," her husband said. "She fell off all the time." She was equally game as a golfer. "Her first trip around the links ended in darkness at La Jolla Country Club," her husband said. In 1981, she helped organize the club's Ladies Scout Invitational golf tournament, a benefit for the Explorer Scout program in San Diego County. In addition to her husband, survivors include sons the Rev. Victor H. Krulak Jr. of San Diego, the Rev. Willi! am M. Krulak of Baltimore, and retired Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak of London; sister, Elizabeth Hester of Maryland; brother, Charles Chandler of Virginia; four grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Jan. 21 at All Saints Episcopal Church, 625 Pennsylvania Ave., San Diego. (volunteer submission)