Henry Robert Dulik
Nov. 8, 1935-Jan. 26, 2024
Menlo Park, California
Submitted by Beth Dulik Gardiner

Henry Robert Dulik, known by Bob, passed away peacefully after a long illness on January 26, 2024. The son of two Slovakian immigrants and raised in San Francisco, he was always very proud of his Slavic roots, traveling several times to the tiny village of Bukova in Slovakia where his father was born. Bob’s father remembered surviving the massive San Francisco earthquake in 1906 and later set up the San Francisco Ironworks with several Dulik brothers, who had also immigrated to California. Bob worked at the Ironworks and attended Stanford University, graduating in 1956, before starting his own business on the Peninsula, Hak-Mil Products, which built custom-made furniture for restaurants.

Bob’s true passion was food. He was a “foodie” long before the term was ever invented. He loved nothing more than exploring every nook and cranny of the San Francisco Bay Area for new restaurants; the more local and authentic, the better. His intense love of food, cooking and friends permeated the Dulik household, which became a hub of summer BBQs and big festive, memorable dinners for family and a wide circle of friends from in and around Sharon Heights. No one ever remembers leaving hungry. For decades, the Dulik and Goldberg families hosted their Big Game Tailgate Party. These huge, joyous parties, held in the Eucalyptus Groves outside Stanford Stadium, became the stuff of legend with live music, BBQs made out of 55-gallon oil drums and plenty of beer on tap.

Bob was always supportive of his wife, Barbara, who launched the nursery school for Phillips Brooks School in the late 1970s and was a beloved teacher and friend to many. The two designed and built the furniture for the PBS nursery school and spent an incredible amount of time and effort to make sure every young child who attended would thrive. In later life, Bob and Barbara moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where they loved their adventurous life and made a huge circle of friends. Bob is survived by his three children, Gregg (64) and his wife, Michele of Palo Alto and their four children, Sam (33), Gracie (31), Charlie (28) and Owen (26); Tom (62) and his wife, Katie of Lafayette and their two children, Luke (19) and Emma (17); and Beth (60) and her husband, Will of London, UK, and their three children, Oliver (26), Theo (24) and Isabella (18).