Stanley C. Kowalczyk Jr.

Stanley C. Kowalczyk Jr., 77, of Conyngham, passed away Thursday in Lehigh Valley Hopsital-Hazleton, after a courageous 15 year battle with thyroid cancer and cancer of the trachea.

He was born in Ebervale, son of the late Stanley C. and Mary Ann (Scavnicky Kowalczyk. He was a member of the Parish of Ss. Cyril and Methodius at the church of St. Joseph, Hazleton.

He was the oldest of three children. He attended school at Hazle Twp. Grade School and graduated from Hazle Twp. High School in 1964. He worked for the IRS in Hazleton in the mid-'60s as an insurance agent. He was drafted in the U.S. army in 1966 and spent his military time in Columbia, S.C., Redstone Arsenal & Munitions Center in Huntsville, Ala., before being shipped to Vietnam for 13 months. He finished his military career at Fort Knox, Ky., and Fort Dix, N.J., where he was honorably discharged as a specialist 4. He then attended The Pennsylvania State University, where he graduated with a degree in business and another in ancient history. He then went to work for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (the unemployment office) for several months taking disaster claims after the 1977 Johnson Flood. He worked for the bureau in Hazleton, Nanticoke, Wilkes-Barre, back to Hazleton and with a final promotion at the call center in Scranton, where he retired with 35 years of service.

He was an avid reader, especially of biography, history and entertainment. He also loved to collect old movies from the silent area through the 1950s. Anyone who wanted to know who starred in a certain movie would call him and he always gave them the star name. He also enjoyed traveling the U.S. and his favorite trip for three months to Europe in the 1980s.

He lived in the Conyngham area with his sister, Patricia, since 1987.

He is survived by his brother, John and his wife, Jacqueline, Hazleton; nephew, John and his wife, Lori, Old Forge, and their daughter, Katelyn; niece, Renee Lyn, Hazleton; sister, Patricia Ann, Conyngham; one aunt, Dorothy Birosh, Philadelphia; and numerous cousins.

He was a member of the DAV, American Legion, Drums, and the VFW, Conyngham.

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday with a Mass of Christian Burial in the Parish of Ss. Cyril & Methodius at the Church of St. Joseph. Private internment for family members only will be held in Calvary Cemetery. There will be no viewing.

Condolence messages may be sent to PO Box 242, Conyngham, PA 18219.

Arrangements are from Frank J. Bonin Funeral Home, Hazleton.