A carpet-weaver by trade, he was also a red-hot harmonica player in his spare time. When he was not getting to grips with the medium-pile wool twists at Firths Carpets in Bailiff Bridge, he used to blow up a storm with popular tunes such as The Bavarian Woodpecker.
As well as winning the British harmonica championships, he was third in the world championships.
And when he finally got to appear on Opportunity Knocks in 1975, his sponsor was none other than harmonica legend Larry Adler.
But Mr Culpan, who died in 2004, also suffered some ill health in later life. He was a frequent visitor to Calderdale Royal Hospital for treatment and certainly remembered that care when the time came to make out his will.
It bequeathed a whopping £460,000 to Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust – one of the largest legacies the trust has received.
What a great deal of good that money is doing now.
One large sum has been used to buy special equipment to help diagnose eye disease and plan retinal surgery. In simple terms, it will help prevent many people going blind.
Other parts of the hospital to benefit have included the intensive care unit, maternity unit and general wards.
It seems that in his final years, helping others became Mr Culpan's greatest ambition of all.