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April 3, 2017
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, April 6, 2017 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church where at 11:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Donald A. Kocialski, age 66 of Wayne, died Monday, April 3, 2017 at home. He had lived in Wayne since 2000.
Don was a pharmacist and served for nearly thirty years at the Quick-Chek Pharmacy on Bergenline Ave., in N. Bergen before retiring in 2016.
Raised in Buffalo, NY, Don went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with aspirations to become a Nuclear Physicist. Chemistry became his strong suit and he changed his major to study pharmacy. After earning his undergraduate degree from RPI, he received his Master’s Degree in Pharmacy from Temple University and began his career at the ShopRite pharmacy on Tonelle Ave. On one particularly funny occasion, his coworkers at ShopRite ordered a Gorilla-Gram as a birthday surprise for Don. He had no idea and when the gorilla approached from behind, he assumed the pharmacy was being robbed. Don threw a punch and knocked the gorilla to the ground! It wasn’t long after that incident that Don took a position with the Quick-Chek pharmacy in North Bergen where he enjoyed a lengthy career, free of any more Gorilla-Grams.
Don had a great sense of humor and he was always pulling pranks on his friends and coworkers. A very low key and quiet guy, you never knew when he was going to get you, but his jokes were always in good fun. He was also an avid reader and loved naval fiction. He had read the entire series of “Master and Commander” novels. He also enjoyed baking and his French bread was delicious, his steak and potatoes on the grill were famous, and he was an all-around good cook. He also watched Spanish soap operas with his wife, but he didn’t understand a thing they were saying, so he took up needlepoint to pass the time and sat quietly by with his wife while she enjoyed the show. Don’s son enjoyed watching NFL football with his father, and Don remained a very loyal and devoted Buffalo Bills fan his entire life.
Don met his wife Maria when they were both at Temple University, studying pharmacy. Shortly after graduation, they were married in Union City, NJ and enjoyed a honeymoon to New York City. They first settled in West New York before and have been living in Wayne since 2000. Maria will tell you he was the kind of husband who did everything. He always knew what was right and he did whatever he could to accommodate her. Whatever she needed, Don would always respond by saying; “no problem.” He had a selfless nature to him, often put other’s needs well before his own, and he wanted everyone to be happy. They have enjoyed nearly 39 years of marriage now and Maria will miss him dearly.
Don is survived by his loving wife Maria of Wayne, by their son Richard, also of Wayne, by his brother; Edward Kocialski and his wife Patti of Texas, sisters Gloria Kocialski of Buffalo, NY and Cindy Harwood and her husband Joe of California, sisters-in-law; Marianela Martin and her husband Pat of Wayne and Nelly Hayes of Pennington, NJ, as well as many nieces and nephews.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, April 6, 2017 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church where at 11:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
April 3, 2017
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, April 6, 2017 from 4-8 PM. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, April 7, 2017 from the funeral home, then to Our Lady of the Valley RC Church where at 11:30 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered.
Donald A. Kocialski, age 66 of Wayne, died Monday, April 3, 2017 at home. He had lived in Wayne since 2000.
Don was a pharmacist and served for nearly thirty years at the Quick-Chek Pharmacy on Bergenline Ave., in N. Bergen before retiring in 2016.
Raised in Buffalo, NY, Don went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with aspirations to become a Nuclear Physicist. Chemistry became his strong suit and he changed his major to study pharmacy. After earning his undergraduate degree from RPI, he received his Master’s Degree in Pharmacy from Temple University and began his career at the ShopRite pharmacy on Tonelle Ave. On one particularly funny occasion, his coworkers at ShopRite ordered a Gorilla-Gram as a birthday surprise for Don. He had no idea and when the gorilla approached from behind, he assumed the pharmacy was being robbed. Don threw a punch and knocked the gorilla to the ground! It wasn’t long after that incident that Don took a position with the Quick-Chek pharmacy in North Bergen where he enjoyed a lengthy career, free of any more Gorilla-Grams.
Don had a great sense of humor and he was always pulling pranks on his friends and coworkers. A very low key and quiet guy, you never knew when he was going to get you, but his jokes were always in good fun. He was also an avid reader and loved naval fiction. He had read the entire series of “Master and Commander” novels. He also enjoyed baking and his French bread was delicious, his steak and potatoes on the grill were famous, and he was an all-around good cook. He also watched Spanish soap operas with his wife, but he didn’t understand a thing they were saying, so he took up needlepoint to pass the time and sat quietly by with his wife while she enjoyed the show. Don’s son enjoyed watching NFL football with his father, and Don remained a very loyal and devoted Buffalo Bills fan his entire life.
Don met his wife Maria when they were both at Temple University, studying pharmacy. Shortly after graduation, they were married in Union City, NJ and enjoyed a honeymoon to New York City. They first settled in West New York before and have been living in Wayne since 2000. Maria will tell you he was the kind of husband who did everything. He always knew what was right and he did whatever he could to accommodate her. Whatever she needed, Don would always respond by saying; “no problem.” He had a selfless nature to him, often put other’s needs well before his own, and he wanted everyone to be happy. They have enjoyed nearly 39 years of marriage now and Maria will miss him dearly.
Don is survived by his loving wife Maria of Wayne, by their son Richard, also of Wayne, by his brother; Edward Kocialski and his wife Patti of Texas, sisters Gloria Kocialski of Buffalo, NY and Cindy Harwood and her husband Joe of California, sisters-in-law; Marianela Martin and her husband Pat of Wayne and Nelly Hayes of Pennington, NJ, as well as many nieces and nephews.
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