Terry Franklin Culpepper

Terry was born on December 15, 1949 in Selma, Alabama, to Nellie Moore Richardson. He graduated from Alabama State Laboratory High School in 1967, and began a 34 year career with the Bell family of companies. He started off as South-Central Bell’s first African American lineman climbing telephone poles in hot Alabama summers. Through hard work and dedication, he advanced through the ranks to an executive level position at Bellcore in New Jersey while obtaining his Bachelor of Science in management with honors in 1989 and Master of Science in Industrial Relations and Human Resources in 1992, all from Rutgers University. At Bellcore, he sold telecommunications network solutions worldwide in countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines (where he met his beloved wife Catherine), South Africa, Malaysia, and Mongolia.

Among many hobbies, Terry enjoyed scuba diving in caves, hiking, bike riding, playing basketball, studying history, watching movies, and writing. His 1994 book Ms. Ella was adapted into the 2003 short film A Single Rose. He especially loved watching the Alabama Crimson Tide, never missing a game of football on Saturdays, whether it be by television or radio.

After retirement from Bellcore, Terry dedicated his time to various Catholic pursuits. He was baptized into the Catholic Church in 2012. He was the property manager at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Piscataway, NJ. In this capacity, he co-chaired the parish’s renovation committee and was frequently consulted in many strategic and operational decisions. He was a board member for Holy Savior Academy, guiding the school toward the optimization of the personal and educational development of its students. His spiritual growth and formation were fostered through the monthly circles and recollections, and yearly retreats with Opus Dei.

Terry is survived by his beloved wife Catherine Ramos Culpepper and their son Terry II Ramos Culpepper; his daughters Hanelle M. (Jeffrey) Culpepper Meier, Terry A. (Darren) Culpepper Lee, and Florence S. (Steven) Culpepper-Richardson and son Kerry Steven (Atsuko) Culpepper by a prior union with Joyce Allford Lemonier; his sister Xiena Angela Richardson and her sons Andrew Xenos (Talia) Richardson and William Alan Richardson; brother-in-law Jade Francisco Ramos, sixteen grandchildren, and countless other people around the globe that simply called him...friend.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Terry's name to Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Piscataway, NJ.

http://www.olfparish.org/