Walter Szyszkiewicz

Walter Szyszkiewicz of Holland Road, Sturbridge, died at home on Friday,July 15, 2005, after a seven-month struggle with cancer. He was 71. He was born Oct. 15, 1933, in Elizabeth, NJ, the son of Joseph and Clara (Rudnicki). He entered the Navy in 1950 and was stationed on ships out of Hawaii, Virginia, California and Japan. He met and married his wife, Mary Ann (Schneider of Scio, NY), at Moffett Field in Palo Alto, Calif., and, after his retirement from the Navy in 1970, moved to Sturbridge. Besides his wife, he is survived by his daughters Laura Perez (Rindge, NH), and Therese (Marlborough), sons Mark (Warren), Thomas (Peterson, Minn.) and Matthew (East Hampstead, NH), his brothers Anthony, George and Jim, all from New Jersey, and 11 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Clara (Rudnicki) Szyszkiewicz and sister, Marion Szyszkiewicz. Walter had a distinguished 20-year career in the Navy as a hospital corpsman rising to the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War and on various ships during the Vietnam War and was honored with two Purple Hearts, the National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Korean Service Ribbon, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Service Medal with three stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon and Combat Action Ribbon. After retiring from the Navy, he moved with his family from California to Sturbridge and became director of Food Service at Milford Regional Hospital. After a brief stint at the former department store Grants, he went on to work in various management positions at Harrington Memorial Hospital in Southbridge, including director of Nursing and director of Materials Management. He graduated from Worcester State College in 1984 with a degree in hospital business administration. He then went to work in 1990 as the business administrator for St. Anne' s/St. Patrick' s Church and Shrine in Sturbridge and retired from there in 2001. The passionate builder of model ships and planes and model railroader was a board member of First Night for the Sturbridge area, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and a parish representative for the Worcester Diocese' s Partners in Charity. His funeral will be held at NINE AM Wednesday, July 20, from the Belanger-Bullard Funeral Home, 51 Marcy St., Southbridge followed with a Mass at TEN in St. Anne' s Church, (where he was a daily communicant until his illness), Church Street, Fiskdale section of Sturbridge. Burial will follow in St. Anne' s Cemetery. Calling Hours are SEVEB to NINE PM Tuesday July, 19, in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute (www.bcpinstitute.org/donation.htm), 9 Vassar St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. An online guest book is available at www.belangerfuneralhome.com