Longin Tybur

Longin Tybur, 91 of Wayne, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on November 23, 2022, surrounded by family, in his own home of 42 years.

His life was a tale of perseverance, survival, and hard work balanced with loyalty, patience, and gentleness. His was not an easy start to life, but one with a happy journey that embodied the American dream.

When Longin was eight years old living in rural Poland, Russian soldiers invaded his village and herded Longin, his family, and Polish community onto cattle cars. They were deported to Siberia as prisoners of war, subjugated to labor camps.

Toward the end of WWII, Longin, like many Poles, were unable to return home. They faced relocation throughout the world. Longin found himself in Tanzania, Africa, where his father died of malaria.

Ever-enduring, Longin took steps to join Polish General Anders' Army as a young teen, and then, upon the end of WWII, turned his eyes to the sea and enrolled in a merchant marine high school in England. He graduated and over 47 years at sea, from age 18 to 65, he worked his way from assistant cook to the role of chief engineer of super tankers. The position was a challenging one, calling for a physically strong, hardworking individual with innate mechanical abilities. The person had to problem solve, survive weeks or months away at sea in hot engine rooms on often tumultuous waters. They would be exposed to different cultures and experiences, docking in ports around the globe. It was the perfect match for Longin, who sailed to every continent, even Antarctica! He found another perfect match during a visit back with family in Poland in the early 1960s, when his sister, Stasia, introduced him to his beautiful wife of 55 years, Mariola. Longin and Mariola immigrated to the US in 1966, settled in New Jersey, and raised three sons, the pride and joy of his life.

After retirement, Longin never really stopped working and learning. He was constantly fixing things at his home and the houses of his sons. Even his 90th birthday didn't stop him from climbing ladders or using chain saws! He adapted to computers, IPads and the internet with great pride. Always curious, he never lost interest in learning how things worked and was happy tinkering for long hours with a broken printer in his computer room or refurbishing the carburetor of a snow blower by his workbench.

His family treasures his many stories and important lessons from the life of this great man, but ultimately his life inspires them to live lives that embody his core values, and to make choices that would continue to make him proud. He is proudly and affectionately survived by his three children: Chuck (Marcy), Tom (Tanya), Jim (Marie); and his seven grandchildren: Jonathan, Spencer, Ben, Maddie, Matthew, Noelle, and Graham, as well as a younger sister, Stasia, and older brother, Zdiswav, in Poland and their extended families.