Colonel Michael John Piatnitza

Colonel Michael John Piatnitza

MARION: Colonel Michael John Piatnitza, age 95, died December 6, 2014 at Kingston Residence of Marion, Ohio under Acclaim Hospice care.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 12, 1919 to John Wasil and Anastasia Archehovic Piatnitza. He attended Prescott Elementary School, Shurtz and Kelzyn Park High Schools and later went on to receive a degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois, Champaign in 1939. Upon finishing school at the University of Illinois he received a 2nd Lt. Commission in the U.S. Army. His first duty assignment was at Pine Camp in New York. He transferred to the Army Air Corps and received his pilot's wings in 1943. He married Elaine Smith from Duncan, Mississippi in August 1942.

His first assignment in the U.S. Air Force was in Research and Development at Wright Patterson Air Field in Dayton, Ohio. While there, he was requested by President Roosevelt to be a Russian translator / interpreter and was transferred to Italy for further classified projects at the end of World II. Following the war he was asked to pilot General Mark Wayne Clark, U. S. High Commissioner of Austria and all other U. S. troops from 1945-1948. Upon General Clark's retirement he returned to Wright Patterson A.F.B. where he continued his lifetime career in scientific and technical intelligence. His career took him to assignments in Austria, Germany, Hawaii, Japan, and Washington, D.C. He played a key role in changing the objectives of analyzing old damaged WWII equipment to the gathering of Soviet air and space adventures during the Cold War. His last assignment was at NORAD in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1968. During his career he was awarded two Legions of Merit. He also received the Order of Cloud and Banner from the Republic of China. Following his retirement from the U.S. Air Force he continued his work in science and technology intelligence gathering with several defense companies. These projects ended with the revolution in Iran in 1979.

After retirement from the Air Force, Colonel Piatnitza resided primarily in Richardson and Plano, Texas and in Orange County, California before moving to Marion, Ohio in 2013. He was a member of Epworth United Methodist Church, Marion, Ohio. He was a lifetime member of The Order of Daedalians.

His first wife, Elaine, died in 1989. He married Edith Trapp Prentiss in the same year. Edith preceded him in death in 2013. His only sibling, John Piatnitza, preceded him in death.

He is survived by daughters, Joan Ellis of Roanoke, Virginia, Pam (Arden) Douce of Marion, Ohio, Beth (James Morgan) Piatnitza of Oakland, California; eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; and nephews, William Piatnitza of Arizona and Paul Piatnitza of Wisconsin.

There will be a private celebration of his life and he will be buried with his parents and brother at Elmwood Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Acclaim Hospice and Palliative Care of Marion, www.acclaimhospice.com or Wounded Warrior Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org

The Staff of the Lindsey-Kocher Funeral Service, Willard, Ohio assisted the family with arrangements and online condolences may be made at www.lindeykocher.com