Walter Kaminski

Walter Kaminski, of Penn Hills, died Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was an electrical engineer whose passions included sports, polka dancing and card and dice games. Born May 7, 1924, in "Ducktown" West Natrona, Mr. Kaminski's father and grandparents were immigrants from Poland. Every summer he and his brothers got all their hair cut off to a "baldy" and never wore shoes. That was so that they wouldn't wear out their shoes or have to spend money on a haircut. When his shoes did wear out, his father cut pieces out of a car tire and nailed that onto the old shoes. He grew up poor, but through hard work and a good education he achieved the American dream of prosperity and success for him and his children. Walter was a graduate of Har-Brack High School in Natrona Heights, and studied at Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, and Ripon College in Ripon, Wis. After serving in Le Havre, France, in World War II in the signal corps, Walter earned a Bachelor's in electrical engineering in 1951 from the University of Pittsburgh. His career included employment at Pittsburgh Plate Glass, West Penn Power, United States Steel, Union Specialty Steel and Westinghouse Transportation Division. He was especially proud of his work designing rapid transit railcars and airport people movers while at Westinghouse. Walter was an avid sports fan and he closely followed the Pittsburgh Pirates, Steelers and Penguins. He recalled seeing Pirates Hall of Famers like Ralph Kiner, Pie Traynor and Lloyd and Paul Waner playing at Forbes Field. He was a founding member of St. Susanna Parish in Penn Hills. A deeply religious man, he believed that God granted him two miracles in his life when he recovered from lymphoma, and later from complications from gall bladder surgery. Walter came a long way from being a little bald headed kid from Ducktown whose shoes used to be pieces of tire. In addition to his wife of 69 years, Jane (Dalka) Kaminski, Mr. Kaminski is survived by his brother, Frank (Martha), of Cheswick; sister-in-law, Mary Lou Kaminski, of Natrona Heights; daughters, Sandra (John, deceased) McClintock, of Murrysville, Annette (John) Morris, of Penn Township; and son, Robert (Cecilia), of Penn Hills; grandchildren, David McClintock (Jodi), Lori Bickner (Tim), Rebecca Morris (Brian Wilson) and Jim Morris (Jennifer); and seven great-grandchildren. Walter was preceded in death by his father, Zygmunt Kaminski, and mother, Helen (Sadulski) Kaminski; brothers, Leonard and Edward "Buddy" (Mary); and sister, Helen (Edward) Kushkowski.
Family and friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday in the WILLIAM F. GROSS FUNERAL HOME LTD., 11735 Frankstown Road (at Rodi Road), Penn Hills. Funeral prayers will be at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. in St. Susanna Church, Penn Hills. Interment will follow in Mt. Airy Cemetery in Natrona Heights.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, 1359 Broadway, Suite 1509, New York, NY 10018.