Walter J. Sawosko Sr.

Walter J Sawosko, Sr., 1926-2008. Teacher, Administrator and Community Leader. Walter J. Sawosko, Sr. always enthusiastically supported friends and community members. Walter was the youngest of eight children born to Kajetan Sawosko, a Pennsylvania coal miner, and his wife, Rose. He graduated from Morton High School in 1944 and enlisted in the Army. While in Europe during World War II, Walter learned that one of his older brothers, Carl Sawosko a member of "Easy Company," 506th Parachuet Infantry Regiment, was killed at the attack on Foy in Belgium. Upon Sawosko's return to the United States, he attended Northern Illinois Teachers College (NIU) and received his bachelor's degree in 1949. After student teaching at Proviso (East) High School in Maywood, Mr. Sawosko was hired at Proviso as a Physical Education Instructor and Coach of Football and Basketball. Sawosko received his master's degree at Northwestern University in 1952. In 1958, Sawosko applied for the position of athletic director at the newly built Proviso West High School in Hillside. Sawosko became the Physical Education Department Chair and the first Athletic Director at West. Sawosko was the founder of the prestigious Proviso West Christmas Holiday Basketball Tournament. At that time area basketball teams needed to travel under treacherous conditions to holiday tournaments downstate. Sawosko convinced the school administrators that having a local site would be safer for area teams and fans and that this venue would allow for basketball fans from the Chicago area to see the "Stars of the Future Today". With his dedication, the Proviso tournament became the premier holiday tournament of Illinois-the Who's Who of high school basketball. During a period of three years, 1967-69, the three tournament winners, Evanston, Proviso East and the undefeated Lyons Township teams each became the single class state champion the following March. During the 40th anniversary celebration of the Proviso West Christmas Basketball Tournament in 2000, Walt was honored as the founder of the tournament and was fan selected to the all time all tournament team. In 2005, Sawosko received recognition for his efforts at Proviso West by having Circle Drive at Proviso West named Honorary Walt Sawosko Drive. While at Proviso West, Mr. Sawosko was also known as Coach Sawosko by thousands of local elementary school age children who learned to swim at the Proviso West Summer Swim program which Sawosko founded and directed. In the evenings, Mr. Sawosko helped many older community members learn to swim during his fifteen years as the director of Triton College Adult Swim. His coaching efforts at Proviso included coaching basketball (20 years), football (15 years), golf (8 years) and tennis (1 year). Mr. Sawosko retired from Proviso West after thirty seven years of service in 1986. In 1998, the then 71-year old Westchester native was inducted as a "Friend of Illinois High School Basketball" at the 26th annual Hall of Fame dinner. Mr Sawosko's service to the community continued after his retirement. Mr. Sawosko would run physical tests that would be used by many local communities to evaluate police and fire candidates. He was recruited by the Bureau of Testing Services (BOTS) to coordinate police and fireman testing in Northeastern Illinois. Mr. Sawosko recognized that many retired coaches that had competed fiercely against each other have common interests. In 1988, he started the Retired Athletic People (R.A.P.) to allow for fellowship among the coaches. His group grew to over 100 members in a few years and is still currently active finishing its twenty first year. This group has monthly breakfast meetings and planned outings to sports events, racetracks, riverboats and has an annual golf outing. At Grace Lutheran Church in Westchester, Mr. Sawosko was a regular church board member and was the president of the board three separate times. Mr. Sawosko was an icon at the two fund raising events he started. For ten years each summer, Mr. Sawosko would collect donated items from residential garage sales along with the congregation's donated items to run a large weekend summertime sale that included food and a silent auction. When his health changed, Mr. Sawosko changed events and started the spring Spaghetti Dinner at Grace Lutheran. He encouraged local businesses to donate their best ingredients to produce a complete authentic spaghetti dinner. At these events Mr. Sawosko would promote local business, by handing out door prizes and making sure each person received a booklet that included advertisement for the businesses that supported this event. During his retirement, Mr. Sawosko was an active member of the Rich Port Y.M.C.A. and was a member of the "Y" Men in which he would participate in the yearly Christmas Tree Sale which was a large fund raiser for the Rich Port Y.M.C.A. In addition to wife Rosemarie, Mr. Sawosko is survived by his son Walter, his sister Alfreda and three grandchildren. Visitation will be May 15, 2008, Thursday from 3pm to 9pm at Conboy's Funeral Home, 10501 W Cermak Rd, Westchester, IL. Services will be 10 a.m. May 16th, Friday at Grace Lutheran Church, 1101 Manchester Ave., Westchester. For info (708) 562-5900