David Wilcox (Paul McCulley)

He was born March 19, 1953, at an institution in Norwich. Frederick and Lorraine McCulley welcomed him into their home soon after birth, naming him Paul Dwight McCulley. In the ensuing years, five siblings were born into the family.

He is survived by his sister Rebecca (Mark) Emmorey of Cedar Springs, Michigan, his sister Naomi (Rollin) Marshall of Saranac Lake, his brother William (Terri) McCulley of Hudson Falls, his brother Bruce (Zoe) McCulley of Vermontville and his brother James (Darcy) McCulley of Lake Placid. Paul was well loved by several nieces and nephews.

He was born disabled, but his parents held high expectations for him, loving him and including him in every part of family life. Though Paul was unable to succeed in school, he was taught to be kind, happy and hard working.

Paul cheerfully whistled his way through work for almost 40 years at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid. It was a perfect fit with bosses like Denny Allen, Bobby Preston and many others going out of their way to make it a long-lasting and rewarding career for him. He learned to love hockey. The 1980 Olympics found him working around the clock and on hand to watch the classic USA-Russia game.

Paul had an ability, through quiet hard work and a joyful love of life, to bring out the best in others and give them the vision to see him in the best way. At one point it became Paul’s job to keep the locker room clean for the Buffalo Sabres as they prepared for the upcoming season. After a few weeks Paul came home with a full Sabres warmup suit. When Jim questioned him about the suit, he was more eager to tell how “coach” made him sit down and eat cake with him. When invited, Paul was concerned about making his boss unhappy. “Coach” said to have the boss talk to him if there was a problem. “Coach” was hockey legend Scotty Bowman. Paul didn’t care how important you were, just how nice you were.

Paul loved family time and gave special attention to the babies. He had several M&M candy dispensers that he kept full and then parceled out candy to his nieces and nephews.

He was a member of the Lake Placid Pilgrim Holiness Church, where he served as an usher, sang the hymns heartily and spoke of his love for Jesus. In recent times when he was unable to communicate, his family was amazed when he would sing a hymn with amazing accuracy and a bit of the joy that marked him.

Calling hours will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6 at Pilgrim Holiness Church of Lake Placid. A funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. with the Rev. Paul Case Jr. officiating. Burial will be at North Elba Cemetery in Lake Placid. Arrangements are with M.B. Clark Inc. Funeral Home in Lake Placid. Relatives and friends are invited to share a memory, upload a photograph or leave condolences at www.mbclarkfuneralhome.com.