Alex “Aca” Aleksich, age 72, of Norwood and formerly of Fair Lawn and Paterson, passed peacefully in God’s presence, while his family stood faithfully by his side, on Saturday, May 7, 2016.

Aca was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. From a very young age, he knew hardship and loss, losing his dear mother Lubica from illness when he was just three years old and growing up during the height of World War II. At the time of his mother’s passing, he was the youngest of four children. His father Marko did find love again, remarried, and over the ensuing years, Aca was joined by four additional siblings.

In Yugoslavia, after graduating from elementary school, Aca left home to live in the city near Belgrade, where he attended and graduated from technical school for machinery. After a couple of months of work following graduation, Aca and a friend planned their escape from the country and its oppression. They got out successfully, leaving their families behind, and ended up in Italy where they worked off jobs in exchange for food and shelter from the good Samaritans in an political refugee camp.

In the Spring of 1963, Aca came to the United States of America with nothing but his ambition and a few dollars. His first home in this new land was in Paterson. He worked extremely hard to establish himself, taking odd jobs - some for as little as ninety-nine cents per hour. No matter how much he made, he always managed to send money every month to his father in Europe - who was a guiding force in his life - to make sure he was always taken care of.

It didn’t take long before Aca was introduced to a beautiful young lady named Nada Milojkovic. A year later, in 1964, they married and just one year after that, when Aca was just twenty-one, he and Nada welcomed a little baby boy who they named Marko. They lived in Paterson at first, then later moved to Clifton.

In 1969, just six years after coming to America, Aca opened his own business: Alex Machine Shop, Inc. on Straight Street in Paterson. It was always his dream to create his own empire and his hard work and discipline began to pay off. He was one of the first developers of metal hangers for dry cleaners and he had a lot of contracts in the textile and food industries. Eventually he was producing parts for companies all over the world and a big breakthrough was landing a contract to produce parts for machines that mass produced ice cream.

In 1985, soon after Aca, Nada, and Marko moved to Fair Lawn, Nada became ill. She eventually succumbed to cancer, passing away in 1988 and bringing loss and sadness once again to Aca and all of his family. As you would expect, Aca pressed on with his own life, always working hard and trusting God to sustain and provide for him each day. He eventually did find love again. His good friends Trajan and Gordana Oldja told Aca, “We have a wonderful woman for you.” The woman they were referring to was Bozana Djurkov, a doctor from Serbia, and she and Aca had their first date at a restaurant in New York City. That very night Aca proposed to Bozana and knowing his excellent reputation, she accepted his marriage proposal. They married in 1989 and over the ensuing years were blessed with three baby girls: Jelena, Ivana and Gordana. In 1996, they moved to Norwood.

Aca experienced his share of hardship in life, but he also experienced many blessings. Through hard work and diligence, he enjoyed much success in his business. One of his favorite pastimes was to visit his home in Venice, Florida where he would enjoy rest and relaxation in the warm weather. He loved going to his favorite restaurants and playing cards with his friends. He truly enjoyed a slower lifestyle and hot weather. One of the things that Aca embraced most about American culture was its movies, especially Western movies starring John Wayne. He also loved following tennis, his heart filled with pride as he would watch fellow Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic: one of the greatest players of all time. In January 2016, Novak became the first man in the Open Era to collect all six Australian Open Titles and Aca saw every second of his fellow countryman’s accomplishment, never sleeping during the entire 2016 Australian Open.

Above all else, Aca was most grateful for his family. He taught his son Marko to be an excellent machinist like himself and one of his dreams in life was to see all three of his daughter’s graduate from college. His children loved him right back and, towards the end of his life, his daughters would never leave his side, taking turns to keep 24-hour watch at his bedside just so they could care for him and spend as much time as possible with him.

It is hard to underestimate the positive influence that Aca had on the lives of those who had the privilege of knowing him. He was an example of what hard work and honesty get you and he himself was responsible for helping over two hundred immigrants get established with jobs in America. Aca always said “Be together, take care of each other, respect all, work hard, love each other and above all, believe in God.”

Aca is survived by his beloved wife Bozana; dear son: Marko Aleksich of Fair Lawn, three dear daughters: Jelena, Ivana and Gordana Aleksich, all of Norwood; two cherished grandsons: Alex and Steven; brothers: Nikola and wife Zorica Aleksich of Connecticut, Krsto and wife Ljubinka Aleksich of St. Petersburg, FL, and Tanasije and wife Mitra Aleksich of Paterson; and his sister: Ljiljana Ignatovic of Novi Sad, Serbia. He was predeceased by his beloved first wife Nada in 1988; his sister Persida Ostojic; and two brothers: Petar Aleksich and Djordje Aleksich.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church, 119 Carlisle Ave., Paterson, 07501 would be appreciated.