Skowronek, Lester J.
(March 12, 1919 - Jan. 1, 2009)
War veteranAmong the Polish immigrants who came to the United States from the small town of Wadowice, where Pope John Paul II was born and attended schools, was a New York butcher named John Skowronek. Born October 20, 1889, he sailed from Bremen, on a German steamship of the same name, with a stopover at Southampton, England, and arrived in New York one week later to join his sister. The same ship the year before passed through pieces of wood and other debris in the ocean where the Titanic sank. When he was 27 years old, he married Elizabeth Tyrala, who came from Hungary in 1908, with whom he had a son who wrote his own obituary at his home in Hendersonville, North Carolina. It appeared January 23, 2009, in Polish American World.
"Lester John Skowronek was born March 12,1919 to John M. Skowronek and Elizabeth Tyrala Skowronek in New York City. He went through the N.Y. school system graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1936. He continued his education at N.C. State College, graduating with a BS in Civil Engineering with the Class of 1940. He then attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he majored in Hydrology. He was awarded his Master of Science degree in June 1941.
A week after graduation Lester was called to active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He reported to the 1st Naval District for studies at M.l.T. in Aeronautics and the Boston Navy Yard for basics in Naval Sciences. Upon completion, Lester was ordered to Naval Air Station Alameda and assigned to the Assembly & Repair (A&R) Division where he served from September of 1941 through September of 1942. It was during this period that he supervised the loading of General Doolittle's B25s on the USS Enterprise for their raid on Tokyo. After a short two months at NAS Moffett Field he transferred in November of 1942 to Lighter-than-Air with assignment to HEDRON (Headquarters Squadron) Unit at Santa Ana Naval Air Base as an A&R Officer. From May through September of 1943 he was Officer-in-Charge of establishing an auxiliary base in Lompoc, California. In October of 1943, he was assigned to Fleet Air Wing 4 and served in Wing duties on several PATSU or Patrol Aircraft Service Units throughout the Alaskan Island chain (Adak, Attu, Amchitka, Kodiak), and later at NAS Quonset Point, Rl, Key West, FL, and NAS Oceana, VA. In 1945 he met Helen Wyszpolski (daughter of Mary Sroka and Frank Wyszpolski) of Brooklyn, New York. They married on February 21, 1946. In April of 1946 he was assigned to USS Kearsage. After commissioning and the shakedown cruise, Lester left active duty in July of 1946 and returned to New York and civilian life.
In September 1946, Lester returned to N.C. State with his bride Helen. There he served as an instructor in Civil Engineering where he taught for a year and refreshed his engineering skills. A year later he left academia and later joined SOCONY Yacuum Oil Company (Mobil Oil) in the Research and Engineering Division in 1949. The early years were spent in rebuilding existing refineries and designing new units. This led into maintenance and upkeep and updating refineries around the world (Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Califomia, Texas, New Jersey, lllinois). From 1964-1967 he worked on oil shale research at Anvil Points near Rifle, Colorado and was active in the Boy Scouts and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. After construction of the liquid gas plant in Indonesia (1975-78) and work on North Sea platforms (1978-1981) for oil production, Lester retired in 1984 after 37 years to New Jersey. He and Helen lived happy and interesting lives. Twenty years later in 2003, he and Helen moved to Hendersonville where he was a member of VFW Post 5206, American Legion Post 77, and the Polish American Club of Western North Carolina.
lt's been a great life! Thank you loved ones."
Helen Wyszpolski, his wife of 62 years, and three children - Geoffret, Leslie, and Russell -- two grandchildren and two great-grandsons survived him. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on March 18, 2009.
From: Edward Pinkowski 2009; Polish American World, Jan. 23, 2009.
Skowronek, Lester John
(1919 - 2009)Supervised Loading of Doolittle's B25s
Lester John Skowronek was born March 12, 1919 to John M. Skowronek and Elizabeth Tyrala Skowronek in New York City. His education included a BS in Civil Engineering from N.C. State College, and a Master of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he majored in Hydrology.
A week after graduation Skowronek was called to active duty in the U.S. Naval Reserve. From May through September of 1943 he was Officer-in-Charge of establishing an auxiliary base in Lompoc, California. In 1945 he met Helen Wyszpolski of Brooklyn, New York. They married on February 21, 1946. In April of 1946 he was assigned to USS KEARSAGE. After commissioning and the shakedown cruise, Skowronek left active duty in July of 1946 and returned to New York and civilian life.
In September 1946, Skowronek returned to North Carolina with his bride Helen. There he served as an instructor in Civil Engineering where he taught for a year and refreshed his engineering skills. He left academia and later joined SOCONY Vacuum Oil Company (Mobil Oil) in the Research and Engineering Division in 1949. For the next 35 years he travelled the world working on oil-related projects.
Skowronek retired in 1984s to New Jersey where he and Helen lived happy and interesting lives. Twenty years later in 2003, he and Helen moved to Hendersonville where he was a member of VFW Post 5206, American Legion Post 77, and the Polish American Club of Western North Carolina.
Source: Polish American Journal, March 2009, Vol. 98, No. 3.