Peter Edward Niedzwiecki

July 25, 2010

Peter Edward "Bear" Niedzwiecki, of Red Rock, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away Sunday, July 25, 2010, after an extended illness. He was 92 years old. He passed peacefully in his home near Red Rock Mountain with his loved ones at his side. Pete was born January 22, 1918, in Glen Lyon to John and Alexandria Jankowski Niedzwiecki. He and his family moved to a small farm near Broadway, where he was raised with four brothers and two sisters. He met the love of his life, Antoinette Venetski, who was raised on a small farm near Lake Silkworth. They married at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Lake Silkworth, in 1940 and resided in Broadway, later moving to Sylvan Lake, where they began to raise a family. They later moved to Red Rock Mountain. Pete was self-employed for most of his working life, employing a crew in the timber industry and supplying props and lumber to the coal mines. As mining shut down, he transitioned to an owner/operator of a school bus route in Ross Township. He also established a custom excavating, coal and fuel oil business. With his son, the late Leo, working by his side, they developed Bear Fuel Service and Excavating, Inc. with a full-service gas station. This business continues into the third generation, operated by his grandsons. He now joins in heaven his daughter, Leona; and son Leo, who predeceased him. Pete is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Antoinette, Red Rock; and sister Jenny Kutz, of Sylvan Lake. He is also survived by his son Edward Niedzwiecki, of Camarillo, Calif.; daughter-in-law Barbara Bear, wife of Leo, of Benton; grandchildren Loreen Auchus-McGill and her husband, Thomas, of Euclid, Ohio; Rachelle Weed and her husband, Michael, of Sacramento, Calif.; Tracy Bear and his wife, Bernadine; Peter John Bear, and Leanne Bear, all of Benton; and great-grandchildren Braeden and Coveyn Bear, of Benton, and Alexandria and Peter McGill, of Euclid, Ohio. The family wishes to thank the staff of Columbia-Montour Home Health and Hospice and Geisinger Wyoming Valley Hospital for their care. A funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. Thursday from the Curtis L. Swanson Funeral Home Inc., corner of routes 29 and 118, Pikes Creek, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Lake Silkworth. Interment will be in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Lake Silkworth. Friends may call Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. The family requests that memorial contributions be sent to the Columbia-Montour Home Health and Hospice, 410 Glenn Ave., Suite 200, Bloomsburg , PA 17815.