Walter Joseph SMOLUCHA was born 03 Jul 1921 in Cook County, Illinois, a son of Ignatius and Wiktoria (SLIWA) SMOLUCHA.
"In Polish, SMOLUCHA is pronounced sma-woo-ha. There is an umlaut over the u." [*FZS]
"The Smolucha family is descended from Vikings from Scandanavia, who explored the rivers of Eastern Europe and settled in Poland (based on an analysis of the Smolucha 'Y' chromosome by the National Geographic Society's Genome Project). In English, Smolucha has been pronounced sma-lu-ka, sma-lu-cha, and sma-lou-ha." [*FZS]
Walter attended Good Shepard grade school and Faraggut high school.
"Walter served in the Navy during World War II (on active duty from 1942 until 1945 on the USS Breton, an escort carrier in the South Pacific). As the look-out in the crow's nest, he watched for kamikaze attacks and for our planes returning from missions." [*FZS]
In Good Shepard Church, Walter and Dolores LANGNER were married on 07 May 1950, in Chicago, Cook County. They had two children.
Walter was a self-taught visual artist, whose landscape paintings have
become very popular on the Southside of Chicago." [*FZS]
"I just picked up this painting." *[RE 2020 Nov]
Walter retired after working 35 years for General Electric [Hotpoint]." [*FZS]
Walter Joseph SMOLUCHA died 26 Nov 2002 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, after a couple of strokes. He was buried in Resurrection Cemetery, Justice, Cook County, Illinois.
"WALTER J. SMOLUCHA; beloved husband of Dolores (nee Langner); loving father of Larry (Francine) and the late Steven W. Smolucha; cherished son of the late Ignatius Smolucha and the late Wiktoria Sliwa; dearest grandfather of Nathan, dear brother of Genevieve (the late Casimir) Kopcinski, Helen (Max) Kurland, Stanley (Maryann), John (Patricia) and the late Josephine (late Ted) Mikrut, fond brother-in-law of Genevieve (John) Powell, proud uncle of many nieces and nephews. Mr. Smolucha proudly served in the Navy during World War II. He was a member of St. Mary Star of the Sea Holy Name Society." [?]
"Smolucha, Walter J., WWII Navy-Veteran, beloved husband of Dolores (nee Langner), loving father of Larry (Francine) and the late Steven W. Smolucha, dearest grandfather of Nathan, dear brother of Genevieve (the late Casimir) Kopcinski, Helen (Max) Kurland, Stanley (Maryann), John (Patricia) and the late Josephine (late Ted) Mikrut, fond brother-in-law of Genevieve (John) Powell, also many nieces and nephews.
"Funeral Saturday, November 30, 2002, 8:45 a.m. from Zarzycki Manor Chapels, Ltd., 5088 South Archer Avenue, corner of Keeler, to the Church of St. Mary Star of the Sea. Mass 9:30 a.m. Interment Resurrection Cemetery. Member of St. Mary Star of the Sea H.N.S. Visitation Thursday, 6 to 9 p.m. and Friday, 2 to 9 p.m." [Published in Chicago Sun-Times on Nov. 27, 2002]
[*FZS Francine Ziemba Smolucha, *RE Ryan Eisenhardt]
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Our thanks to Marsha Bryant for graciously hosting this LANGNER Family History website on her server.