[picture]

Edward Piszek Historical Marker
photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission

Last Update: August 29, 2025 		------

Edward Piszek Historical Marker

 Approved by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC)

Location:
Edward Piszek Nature Preserve
700 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington, Montgomery County, PA

[MapPicture]

Click on map for larger picture
(where Oreland Mill Rd. meets Pennsylvania Avenue, this is an entrance to the Springfield Manor housing development.)

Dedication Date: Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 - 12:00 noon

Please Note: Parking on Oreland Mill Road is limited.
Please let us know you are coming with an e-mail to: [email protected]

Information about Edward Piszek

PRESS RELEASE

Subject: Historical Marker for Edward Piszek to be Dedicated

After two years of work our project for installing a commemorative historical marker for Edward Piszek, a Polish-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, has come to fruition. The marker was approved and installed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 12:00 noon. Its location will be at the entrance of a nature preserve at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fort Washington, Pennsylvania 19034 (Springfield Township, Montgomery County, northwest of Philadelphia).

In Philadelphia, Edward Piszek is remembered as the founder of Mrs. Paul's Kitchens Inc. a company that produced "heat and eat" frozen seafood meals. This brand became famous nationwide across the United States.

But that is only a part of his story. Born in the United States of immigrant parents, Edward Piszek became aware of his Polish heritage later in life and traveled to Poland becoming friends with Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow who later became Pope John Paul II. One of his first projects in Poland (1967) was financing an anti-tuberculosis campaign that stopped an outbreak of the disease. This included 11 mobile x-ray units, ancillary equipment and support vehicles.

In Philadelphia, for the US Bicentennial in 1976, he purchased the house in which Revolutionary War Hero General Thaddeus Kosciuszko resided. Working with historian Edward Pinkowski, he donated this building, and the adjacent one, to the National Park Service (Independence National Historical Park District). This is now a museum called the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial.

Edward Piszek conducted a positive publicity campaign to improve the image of Poles in the United States ("Project Pole") in 1972. With baseball star Stan Musial, he promoted American baseball in Poland. He convinced the Little League international organization to locate its European Headquarters in Kutno, Poland.

These are but a few of his accomplishments. Writer Jake Morgan working, with Edward, produced the memoir: Some Good in the World: A Life of Purpose published in 2001 by University of Colorado Press, 235 pages (available on Amazon).

Contact: Peter J. Obst, President, Polish Heritage Society of Philadelphia
67 Lower Orchard Drive, Levittown PA 19056; tel: 215-946-5723, e-mail: [email protected]