Stefan Paul Wesolowski

Our beloved, Stefan Wesolowski, passed away on June 2, 2025, peacefully at his home in Cuenca, Ecuador. Stefan was born in Phoenix, AZ on Sept 13, 1958. He was the son of the late Lucy Diane Chleva and Colonel Zdzislaw Wesolowski. He grew up in Miami FL, enjoyed the adoration of his grandmother Antonina, fishing with his grandfather, Captain Stefan Wesolowski (a World War I and World War II Polish American veteran and Naval war hero) and snorkeling off Miami's pristine beaches. At an early age Stefan was recognized as a "TAG" (talented and gifted) student. He possessed exceptional skills in mathematics, but also demonstrated a notable interest in, and an encyclopedic knowledge of: History, Linguistics and Aristotelian logic, among other subjects. At age 16 he had grown bored of high school and left to attend junior college. In June 1979, at just 20 years of age, Stefan graduated from Florida International University in Miami with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics on a AFROTC scholarship, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the US Air Force (following in his father's footsteps, who had also been an Air Force officer).
Stefan was assigned to the Air Force Orbital Analyst School at Peterson AFB, graduating in the top tier of his class, and then assigned to the operations crews in the NORAD Cheyenne Mountain Complex, becoming the first crew-qualified orbital analyst of his group. He was also the first Space Defense Officer at SPADOC (Space Defense Operations Center). He provided unique orbital analyst support for the first NASA Space Shuttle launches, as well as classified support to various US intelligence agencies. While serving on crew Stefan attended graduate courses and in 1982 was awarded a Master's Degree in Solid State Physics from the University of Colorado. He was then reassigned to the Aerospace Data Facility in Aurora CO, and was sent to Vandenberg AFB to attend Ballistic Missile Staff Officer School. Despite graduating as the youngest and most junior officer in his class, Stefan rapidly became acknowledged as the top missile systems analyst in his organization, and was appointed the lead liaison officer to the Foreign Technology Division at Wright-Patterson AFB. He provided many critical classified analyses necessary for national security, briefing the same to the highest echelons in the government.
In 1986 he left the Air Force as a Captain, he had decided to pursue a career in commercial satellite communications. Fluent in Polish with language skills in German and French (along with an insatiable desire to travel) Stefan moved to Europe to work as a communications systems engineer and in marketing with several SATCOM companies, and he travelled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia.
In 2006 he returned to the Dallas/Ft Worth area and worked as an independent consultant for companies involved with commercial satellite communications and energy systems. In 2013 he joined Space Systems LORAL in Palo Alto CA as a satellite communications program and logistics manager. During his tenure there he qualified as a crew satellite operations mission director, and he was awarded a special citation for outstanding support of a difficult communications satellite launch into a geosynchronous orbit. Stefan left California in 2017 to relocate to Virginia, where he worked for several different contractors supporting various NASA and NOAA projects. He retired in 2023. Ever the adventurer, Stefan decided to take up residence in Cuenca, Ecuador, having recently purchased a lovely country home in the rural outskirts of the city. He was thrilled having yet another opportunity to learn a new culture and meet new people.
Stefan was a truly unique individual, in addition to being brilliant in the sciences and engineering, he also loved cooking, enjoyed the outdoors and was an outstanding downhill skier and mountaineer. He was a passionate audiophile, his home equipped with and resembling a sound studio, complete with Ohm A speakers, JBL studio monitors, Altec amplifiers, and every kind of music playing device ever made. Professionally, his career was a relentless pursuit for technical excellence, with little toleration for bureaucracy. It would be kind to say Stefan did not tolerate fools well. But in his private life, Stefan would give the needy the shirt off his back even if that meant he himself would go cold, or give the food off his plate even if that meant he himself would go hungry.
Stefan is survived by his beloved family members, sister Wanda, half-sister Juliana and her husband Beau, Uncle Jeremii and his wife Alice; step-mother Emilia; cousins Jeremii Jr. and his wife Leticia, Alexa and her husband Newton, Andrea and her husband Sean, Ashleigh and her husband Eric; nieces and nephews; his friends, Kitt, Bob and Bruce, and his cat "Lord Gort."
We have lost a dear relative and friend. We thank all of our family and friends for honoring his memory and legacy. Email [email protected] for more information.