John Markowski

John Markowski, age 94, of Wayne passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 13, 21022 while receiving the loving care of his family.

John was born in Bierdziez, Poland where he also spent his formative years.  As a young boy, John enjoyed playing sports, particularly soccer, and volleyball, and later boxing while he was in the military.  He was the middle child of three children to Stanislaw and Marianne Markowski.  As a teenager growing up in Europe during World War II, John, his older brother Marion, and his father were taken from their homeland and forced into a labor camp in Germany.  After spending several years in the labor camp, they were ultimately liberated by the United States Armed Forces.  Following the war’s end, John was given the opportunity to join the Polish Guard Company.  This company was organized in order to protect the United States Army personnel stationed in Poland.  John served proudly and honorably in the Polish Guard Company from 1945 until 1949.

During his time living in Germany as a young man, John and a lady friend of his attended a local dance.  While at the dance, met another attractive young lady by the name of Leontyna who was also with a date of her own.  John, although attending the dance with another lady, went up to Leontyna and told her, “You and I are going to get married!”  Leontyna looked at him a little funny and told him he was crazy.  However, as fate would have it, John and Leontyna  started dating after the dance and fell in love.  They later became husband and wife in October of 1946.  After getting married, John and Leontyna settled in Heidelberg, Germany where they lived for a few years and welcomed the birth of their first daughter, Lucia.

In 1949, while still serving in the Polish Guard Company, John’s superior officer asked him if he would like to immigrate to the United States of America.  John and his family jumped at the chance and sailed across the Atlantic to the USA on the USS General R.M. Blatchford, a Squier-class transport ship.  Upon arriving in the United States, the family settled in Riverhead, NY in Long Island.  While living there, Catholic Charities assisted him in finding work as a farmer on a farm in Long Island.  Because the work was seasonal, his employment was limited, so John needed to relocate and find work elsewhere to support his family.  They then moved to Paterson, NJ.  While living in Paterson, John and Leontyna welcomed the birth of their second daughter, Jeanette.  John found work quickly in Paterson at a local dye factory.  He worked there for a short time then left and accepted another position as a Maintenance Mechanic for Kelling  Nut Company also located in Paterson.  Kelling Nut eventually closed and John needed to find other employment.  John again found work quickly as a Maintenance Mechanic at Contract Packaging in Wayne.  John held this position until his retirement at age seventy-seven.  John was not one to sit still and took part time work at the Chocolate with Love Company where he packaged chocolates and candies.  John and his family lived in Paterson, then moved to Hawthorne before eventually moving to Wayne in 1977.  They called Wayne their home for the rest of their lives together.

John loved tinkering around his house working on things and fixing them.  He was also an accomplished gardener and was famous for his tomatoes and his yearly home-grown pumpkin patches which entertained his grandchildren and great grandchildren throughout the years.  Aside from all of John’s talents, hobbies or interests, his greatest passion in life was for his family.  Nothing in the world meant more to John than providing for and spending time with his family.  He treasured being with his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren through the holidays and traveling on their countless day trips to the Jersey Shore destinations which included Belmar, Asbury Park, and Wildwood.  He and his wife Leontyna cherished forty-six years of loving and loyal marriage together until Leontyna’s passing in 1992.

John was truly a devoted family man.  He was not only devoted to his family but also to his Catholic Faith.  John and his family were parishioners of St Hyacinth in Paterson, St Theresa Church, St Anthony Church in Hawthorne and most recently at Our Lady of the Valley Church in Wayne.  John was a quiet and private man who loved his family deeply.  He was also genuinely selfless, often dropping whatever he was doing to help his family, friends, or neighbors.  John was a very special person who touched the lives of everyone around him and will be sincerely missed by all that knew him.    

John is survived by his two daughters; Lucia Behrens and her husband Walter of Oak Ridge, NJ, and Jeanette Gallo and her husband Carmine of Wayne, NJ, four grandchildren; Scott Behrens of Florida, NY, Jason Behrens and his wife Mary of Bloomingdale, NJ, Dr. Christopher Spagnuola and his wife Vanessa of Fair Haven, NJ, and Ralph Spagnuola and his wife Danielle of Middletown, NJ, and twelve great grandchildren; Kati Behrens of Mexico, Austin Behrens of Wayne, NJ, Baileigh Behrens of Wayne, NJ, Brooke Behrens of Wayne, NJ, Finn Behrens of Wayne, NJ, Allison Behrens of Bloomingdale, NJ, Jack Spagnuola of Fair Haven,NJ, Connor Spagnuola of Fair Haven,

NJ, Braiden Spagnuola of Fair Haven,NJ, Leo Spagnuola of Middletown, NJ, Mae Spagnuola of Middletown, NJ, and Grace Spagnuola of Middletown, NJ.  John was predeceased by his wife Leontyna in 1992, as well as by his brother Marion , and his sister Janina.

In lieu of flowers, donations in John’s name may be made to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memorials Processing 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105-9959 http://www.stjude.org