Francis Joseph Kowalski, age 87, of Winchester, Virginia, died on January 4, 2016, at Winchester Medical Center. Francis was born in 1928, at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., the son of the late Stephen L. and Martha E. Kowalski. He was a graduate of Calvin Coolidge High School, Class of 1947. His father bought aContinue Reading
Francis Joseph Kowalski, age 87, of Winchester, Virginia, died on January 4, 2016, at Winchester Medical Center.
Francis was born in 1928, at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., the son of the late Stephen L. and Martha E. Kowalski. He was a graduate of Calvin Coolidge High School, Class of 1947. His father bought a small farm in September 1947 and Francis lived on the farm until October 1950.
Francis joined the United States Navy and went to Boot Camp at Great Lakes, Illinois where he trained in the Corps School Hospital “A”. He went on to Operating Room Tech, Class C School, at US Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD from January 1952 – July 1952, where he was assigned to the operating room staff in July, 1953. Mr. Kowalski trained at the Combat & Field Medicine Tech School at Camp Pendleton, California, and was later trained in Tissue & Bone and Tissue Culture School at the Naval Medical School in Bethesda, MD.
Mr. Kowalski was attached to the Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill (’51-’52); 1st Marine Division in Korea (‘53-‘54); the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet (‘57-‘61); and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He was stationed aboard the USS Taconic, USS Boxer, USS Greenwich, USS Spiegel Grove and the USS Chilton.
Mr. Kowalski visited many ports including Lisbon, Portugal; Rota, Valencia, Maleor and Barcelona, Spain; Canes, Nice, Toulon and Menton, France; Genoa, Leghorn Laspezi, Naples and Venice, Italy as well as and Corfu, Patras, Salonika and Athens, Greece. Other ports include Izmir and Mersin, Turkey; Karachi, West Pakistan; Aquva, Jordan; Bahrain Island; Bandaravvos, Iran; AvaDhabi Tranaiz Coast; Mascat, Oman; Bombay, India and Rastanura, Saudi Arabia.
He retired from the United States Navy after 20 years of service having served during the Korean conflict where he held the rank of E-8 (HMCS). During his time served he received many medals and commendations: 20 years Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Medal, US Korean War w/2 Stars Marine Medal, U.M. Korean Medal, U.S. Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, American Expeditionary Medal w/2 Stars, and the Cold War Victory Medal.
After his retirement from the Navy he became an LPN where he worked at both the Winchester Memorial Hospital and the Winchester Medical Center, retiring after 23 years of service. During that time he also worked in Physical Therapy.
Francis was a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Winchester. He was a member of the Winchester Moose Lodge #1283; VFW #2123; American Legion #0021 Conrad Hoover; a life member of the Marine Corps League; Fleet Reserve Association, life member of NRA; AARP; Reunion Assoc. of U.S.S. Spiegel Grove LSD-32 (Landing Ship Dock-32); A1A-1-7 Korean Marine Corps Association; and Navel Medical Research, Bethesda, MD.
Mr. Kowalski married Genevieve Leah Payne on October 2, 2012, in Winchester, Virginia. His first wife, Helen Lee Heishman Kowalski, preceded him in death in 2006.
He is survived by his wife, Genevieve and numerous nieces and nephews.
Two brothers, James A. Kowalski and Stephen I. Kowalski and two sisters, Joan L. Jones and Elizabeth A. Shirley preceded him in death.
The family will receive friends on Thursday, from 5:00-7:00 PM at Omps Funeral Home, Amherst Chapel.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be conducted at 11:00 AM on Friday, at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, with Father Stanley J. Krempa officiating. Entombment will be in Shenandoah Memorial Park Mausoleum, Frederick County, Virginia with full military honors.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Round Hill Fire and Rescue Company, P.O. Box 1368, Winchester, Virginia, 22601
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