Sylvester “Syl” Lulinski was introduced to the game of cribbage as small boy through a friend in his Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side.
He learned to shuffle and deal cards and developed strategies for analyzing the game. He played frequently in college and during his years in the military, until embarking on a career in pharmacy, marrying and starting a family.
“There were simply not enough hours in a day to play,” said his daughter, Darice Grzybowski.
But before retiring in his mid-50s, the longtime LaGrange Park resident returned to the game. He competed successfully in tournaments, winning the prestigious 29 Hand Award — the game’s highest possible hand at 29 points — during a tournament in 2008.
He also held leadership roles in the American Cribbage Congress, serving for many years on its board of directors, as national tournament commissioner and as executive vice president.
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In 1989, Mr. Lulinski was voted into the ACC Hall of Fame, and in 2013 the annual Syl Lulinski Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev., was named for him.
“It was a hobby that became like a second career for him,” his daughter said. “He even earned some money competing in tournaments.”
Mr. Lulinski, 84, the former co-owner with his wife of Lulinski Pharmacy in Chicago, died of myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disorder, on Friday, Sept. 19, in his La Grange Park home, his family said.
Mr. Lulinski most recently served as executive vice president emeritus of the ACC, founded in 1980 in Raleigh, N.C. He also was a recipient of the ACC’s President’s Award in 1987.
“Much of our success as an organization we owe to Syl’s initiative,” said Jeff Shimp, a founding member of the ACC and current board member. “For more than 30 years we’ve held our biggest tournaments at the Sands Hotel in Reno, and that’s because Syl had arranged for that way back when. He was hardworking and dedicated. He kept the wheels on the wagon and kept us going in the right direction.”
Over the years, Mr. Lulinski was also a frequent contributor to Cribbage World, a monthly newsletter published by the ACC.
“We rely heavily on people with the expertise to keep our readers current on the game’s latest developments,” said Shimp, a member of the advisory board of Cribbage World. “Syl always delivered.”
A 1947 graduate of St. Ignatius High School, Mr. Lulinski attended Loyola University for three years before serving for four years in the Air Force as a staff sergeant during the Korean War.
In 1959 he graduated from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy, where he met his future wife, Phyllis. The couple married that year and became the owners of Lulinski Pharmacy on the South Side, which was founded by his father in the 1920s. The couple operated the pharmacy until 1972.
During that time, Mr. Lulinski also served as the chief pharmacist at Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago for four years.
For several years, beginning in 1972, Mr. Lulinski held various pharmaceutical sales positions in Illinois, New York and Maryland before returning to the Chicago area and becoming vice president of PE Systems in Chicago, and later in its Lisle offices, where he oversaw the design and remodeling of pharmacies. He retired in 1985 at age 55.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Lulinski is survived by a grandson.
A memorial visitation will be at 10 a.m., followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m., on Saturday, Oct. 18, at Harry Caray’s Restaurant, 70 Yorktown Center (at the Westin Hotel) in Lombard.