Stefan Andrzej Celichowski

Stonington - Major Stefan Andrzej Skalski Celichowski was born on Aug. 13, 1920, in Poznan, Poland. Graduating from the distinguished Poznan Lycee, Adama Mickiewicza, Stefan completed officer training at one of Poland's oldest military schools, Wlodzimierz Wolynski. In the spring of 1939, he was still on military maneuvers and was called into active service in the days before the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. He then fought under General Kleberg in the famous last battle at Kock. After the surrender of the Polish Army on Oct. 6, 1939, and having escaped from officer's prison camp, he became an active member of the underground organization, Zwiazek Jaszczurczy. In 1944, he joined the guerilla units of the National Underground Army (Narodowy Sily Zbrojne) organized under the Brygada Swietokrzyska. During his time in the Brigade, Stefan became the commanding officer of the security units for the Brigade's chief-of-staff. In April, 1945, he was chosen as the commanding officer of a four-person detachment and succeeded in crossing the German front to General Patton's Army with orders informing the American Army of the existence and location of the 1,000-strong Polish brigade.

After the war in May, 1945, he served as a liaison officer in charge of the Polish Guard Units of the American Army in Germany. He was promoted by the American Army to the rank of major and remained active as a commanding officer until the units were disbanded in 1949.

In 1949, he emigrated to the U.S. and made a new life in America. Within his first year in the U.S. he founded and organized the Polish assistance organization, Ogniwo, in Hartford. In 1951 he was approached by the State Department to work in Washington, D.C., where he remained until 1955.

He met and married Krystyna Gzowska, a survivor of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and in 1956 they moved to Hartford, eventually settling with their three daughters in their first home in Glastonbury.

From 1956-86 Stefan worked for Connecticut Bank & Trust, ultimately as a vice-president in charge of data programming and security. Since 1985, Mr. and Mrs. Celichowski have lived in Stonington, where they have remained active community members. As a board member of the Stonington Historical Society, Stefan was the director of the Lighthouse Museum for nine years, and continued to pursue his beloved hobbies, his friendships, tennis, bridge, and gardening.

In October, 2005, Stefan achieved the completion of his goal to have the archives and museum of the Brygada Swietokrzyska successfully transferred from the United States to the Jagiellonski University in Kraków. As committee chair for the project, he worked with the Polish Embassy in Washington and Jagiellonski University library director and faculty in planning for the proper housing and opening exhibit of the archives. As a political émigré, Stefan remained deeply committed to his religious beliefs, forever loyal to his native Poland, his family and friends, and eternally grateful to his new country the United States.

He is survived by his one and only wife, Krystyna Celichowska; their three daughters and spouses, Ewa and John Ojarovsky of Weston, Misia and Charles Dudley of Redding, and Renata and Charles Oliver of New York City; and their four grandchildren, Alexandra, Stefan, and Isabel Dudley and Kajtek Oliver. We salute his memory - czesc jego pamieci!

The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, 2007, at St. Mary's Church, Stonington.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Stonington Lighthouse Museum.