Monday 19 January 2009

KAZIMIERZ OLEJARCZYK

A man who never knows when to give up. In the true spirit of the fighting Poles, he is still active in Polish affairs in America - well, he's only 89 years old! See the following extracts from American websites:
Born in New Jersey of Polish-born parents, Olejarczyk went to Poland as a baby with his parents, whose extreme patriotism made them long for their homeland once it had been re-established as a sovereign nation following World War I. Ultimately, economic hardships in the newly re-formed Poland forced his father back to the States for employment while Olejarczyk remained behind with his mother, not rejoining his father until 1940. Thus began a lifelong loyalty to two nations, and during World War II, prior to the United States’ involvement, he volunteered for the Polish Air Force in Canada to help in the liberation of Poland (‘Recognize a need and fill it’). The following year he transferred to the American Air Force and was assigned as a bombardier-navigator with the 586th Bomber Squadron, flying B26s in Europe.After working many years as an analytical engineer for GM, Olejarczyk retired and devoted all of his time to the PAC following the 1981 Solidarity movement’s activities in Poland, when issues of Polish affairs faced by the organization became too absorbing for ‘part time’ attention. Thanks to his wife Bronia, whom he describes as ‘the love of his life’ (and who he met in kindergarten!), Olejarczyk is to this day a hallowed figure about the PAC Federal Credit Union, and who, regardless of age, is still identifying needs and filling them.
AND
Mr. Olejarczyk was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Warsaw. While he was studying engineering at the Warsaw Polytechnic Institute, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. Young Kazimierz volunteered for the Polish Air Force in exile (RAF) and transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force in 1944. At war’s end, he moved to Michigan, where he earned a BBA from the Univ. of MI and MBA and MA from the Univ. of Detroit. He worked for General Motors Fisher Body for 33 years, retiring as a senior analytical systems engineer. He also taught Mathematics and Political Science at the Univ. of Detroit. During that period he also reported for the Voice of America and translated for Radio Free Europe.