My Dad

Edward Henry Wisniewski passed away on March 27, 2013 at home in Preston, Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from the farmhouse he was born in 91 years ago. The son of Władysław and Dominica (Rutkowska) Wisniewski he was born on April 30, 1922.

Ed attended the Palmer School, a one-room school house in Preston, through the eighth grade. He spent his childhood with his 5 brothers and 4 sisters, helping on the family farm, hunting, trapping, and swimming. For fun he and his brothers built a pond—by hand, ordered pet foxes through the mail, and made their own cigarettes out of oak leaves. It’s a wonder he lived as long as he did.

He continued on to Norwich Free Academy. His last day of school was the day of the 1938 hurricane. He recalled taking shelter under a neighbor’s barn during the storm and having the whole barn blow right off its foundation right over him. The storm did such damage on his family’s farm that Ed decided to leave school to help with the cleanup and rebuilding.

In WWII Ed proudly served in the Navy from 1944-1946. He was stationed on board The USS Pasadena which patrolled the Pacific and shelled Iwo Jima for two weeks prior to the landing of the Marines. In December, 1944, he lived through one of the worst recorded typhoons in naval history with winds up to 185 miles per hour, and waves washing planes off the 75-foot high deck of the ship. Ed said, “I never knew the water could get so riled up as that. It was scarier than the battles. We couldn’t fight that thing.”

Ed returned home to Preston where he met Betty Banas of Norwich at a dance at Polonia Park. Ed and Betty married on November 22, 1947 and they raised six children together in Preston. He was a wonderful husband to Betty for over 65 years. He routinely picked flowers for her from their yard, filling vases all over the house. Right up until the end he could still often be caught holding hands with his “girl.”

Ed went to work as a teenager sweeping the floors at the American Thermos Company. When he retired 42 years later, he was the head of the Experimental Machine Shop. His years in the machine shop gave him the ability to fix or build pretty much anything his family needed. Then in his retirement, Ed became an accomplished clocksmith.

Ed was the best father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He passed along the things that were important to him: the value of education, hard work, self-reliance, pride in his Polish heritage, and an appreciation of the beauty in the world all around us.

Despite having only one year of high school education, Ed had a lifelong love of learning. He and Betty worked hard to ensure that all six of their children received a college education. He had an endless curiosity and appreciation of nature and made careful observations of his beloved woods. He made notes on how cold it is when rhododendron leaves start to curl. He observed the territorial and eating habits of birds in his yard, and he was a bountiful gardener.

Ed enjoyed travel. He said the best thing about being drafted into WWII was that he was able to see places he never would have otherwise. He enjoyed seeing the different ways people live and it gave him an appreciation that “Everybody’s got their own way of doing things,” and that's just fine.

Ed loved music and dancing. He got a kick out of blasting the weekly polka show on the radio, which always gave him a spring in his step. At a recent family wedding, his daughters and granddaughters all stood in line waiting for their turn to dance with him in his top hat and tails. No one was better at spinning a partner during a polka than Ed.

Ed was always looking to make a connection with people. One of his sons-in-law gave him a hat with the USS Pasadena on it. He wore it often and loved how many conversations that hat could start; someone was always coming up to ask him about the Navy. While going through chemo treatments, he would be looking for other patients he could cheer up, or would be teasing the nurses, and joking with the doctors. Whether it was learning something new, licking a plate clean after a slice of homemade pie, or spending time with his family, you could tell Ed truly loved life, “You betcha!”

Ed is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, of Preston, six children, Richard Wisniewski and his wife, Terry, of Norwich, Edward Wisniewski and his wife, Barbara, of Bozrah, Conn., Marianne Byrne and her husband, David, of Prospect, Conn., Kathleen Jaycox of Carbondale, Colorado, Susan Wisniewski of Beacon, New York, and Christine Wisniewski and her husband Paul Greenspan, of Sudbury, Mass. Ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. One sister, Martha Janciewicz, of Norwich. Two brothers, Paul Wisniewski of Fort Meyers, Florida, and Walter Wisniewski of Preston, Conn.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The Wisniewski-Banas Scholarship at the Norwich Free Academy Foundation, Inc. at 321 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360. The donations will be used towards a scholarship established in Ed and Betty's name.