Andrew "Andy" Esak Jr.

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. — Andrew "Andy" Esak Jr. passed away at the age of 85 in his home in Marina del Rey, Los Angeles County, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014. He was at peace and loved ones were at his side.

Born July 21, 1929, in Wilkes-Barre Township, Andy was a son of the late Andrew and Julia Esock.

After graduating from Wilkes-Barre Township High School in 1948, Andy enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. During the course of his 21-year career in the U.S. Air Force, he worked as an education officer and an education and training supervisor. Andy's experience covered virtually every area of providing professional education to military personnel. He served in various domestic and overseas locations, including in Alabama and Louisiana, and in Iceland, Turkey and Germany.

It was in Turkey that Andy met his wife of 50 years, Gunes Tarakcioglu, who was working in the American Consulate in Izmir. After his Turkish tour ended, he volunteered for a second tour in Izmir and convinced Gunes to marry him in 1964. Then, together with his wife and his two stepchildren, Andy moved to southwestern Germany, where he was stationed at the Ramstein Air Force Base, his last U.S. Air Force assignment.

After retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a senior non-commissioned officer, Andy completed his bachelor's degree in general studies and business administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1969. He then moved to Los Angeles County where he continued his studies while working to support his family, earning his Master's in Education from Pepperdine University in 1976.

Beginning in 1975, Andy went on to have another 20-year career in the Civil Service, first as an equal opportunity specialist with the Department of Defense, then with the Department of Labor, retiring in 1995. He was conducting on-site inspections of government contractors and reporting on complex reviews of their employment compliance. Highly-principled, methodical and pleasant but impossible to distract off course, Andy felt fortunate to be engaged in work that suited him so well and which he so enjoyed doing.

In younger days, Andy was a champion bowler; later in life, he took up golf (much to his own surprise) and played regularly. After his two hole-in-one shots, he was forever amused whenever asked if he would share his technique and talk about the clubs and shoes he used. Claiming there was nothing special about his technique or his equipment, he would say he just got lucky, nothing more.

In fact, modesty was one of Andy's most distinguishing qualities. Even close family members did not know the extent of his modesty, especially regarding his professional achievements, having recently discovered the U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal in his small keepsake box and, among his files, the countless other letters of commendation and appreciation and certificates of merit, describing his untiring dedication and accomplishments not just in the performance of his duties, but in recognition of his service beyond the call of duty.

The highlight of his retirement years was returning to Pennsylvania in the summers for lengthy visits with his family in Wilkes-Barre, where he stayed with his twin brother Joseph "Joe" Esak in the modest family home of their parents who had emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe.

Andy was preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Waskevich and Julia Hare; his niece, Patricia Waskevich; and by his twin, Joe, who passed away last Aug. 7.

Andy is survived by his wife, Gunes; his sister, Elizabeth Puglisse, Harrisburg; his stepson, Orhan Atiker, Izmir; his stepdaughter, Fatma Atike, Menlo Park, California; his step-granddaughter, Zeynep Atiker, Istanbul, Turkey; and his nieces and nephews, Loretta Shimko, Montoursville, John Waskevich, Lansdale, Joseph Waskevich, Santa Cruz, California, Mary Dorothy Polakoski, Wilkes-Barre Township, Michael Puglisse, Harrisburg, Tony Puglisse, Enola, and Judy Ervin, Spartansburg, South Carolina

Divine liturgy and requiem services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, Chestnut Street, Wilkes-Barre Township. The Rev. Mykalo Prodanets will be officiating. Interment with military honors will follow in St. Mary's Byzantine Cemetery, Lake Street, Dallas. Friends may call at 9:30 a.m., prior to the services.