James Piasecki Biography

James Edward PIASECKI was born 14 Jan 1921 in Cicero, Cook County, Illinois, youngest son of John and Mae (DOLECKI) PIASECKI.

4th of July 1922
Top Row: John LaVigna, Jack Piasecki, Mary Lasczewski Dolecki LaVigna
Middle Row: Thomas Piasecki, Mae Dolecki Piasecki, Bessie Dolecki Langner, Marie Langner
Bottom Row babies: James Piasecki, Raymond Martin Langner

1926
Herb Langner
Jim & Tom Piasecki
Ray Langner

1930 Census
3205 52nd Court,
Cicero, Cook County, IL
John & Mae, John, Thomas, and James

1932
The Gang
Flo, Lora, Violet, Florence J, Tillie, Adeline, Bebe, Josie, Sophia, George, Jim Piasecki, Harry, John J, Norman, Joe, Ray Langner, Ferdinand

1935
Ray Langner, Herb Langner, Jim Piasecki

Jim attended college for two years before he enlisted in the Air Corps 30 Sep 1942.

"Jimmy was stationed in Italy near the city of Foggia. He made more than twenty missions as navigator on a Liberty bomber. He applied for pilot training, but the war ended. He was a First Lieutenant at the end of the war." [*HJL]

"Uncle Jim flew 25 missions on a B-25 bomber into Italy and Germany. After 25 missions, he could go back home. He told me his boss offered him a promotion to Major if only he would do 10 more missions; Jim said, 'hell no'." [*TAP]

Jack & Jean, Jim, Tom

Oct 1945
Mae Dolecki Piasecki
Jim
Bess Dolecki Langner

Oct 1945
Jim
Marie Langner Pietrzak
Ray Langner

"In this picture, Uncle Jim is kneeling, second from right." [*TAP]

James married Marcela Beatrice SZWEDA 23 Jun 1946. They had two daughters: Bonita (1947) and Marsha (1950).

At some point, perhaps in the 1950s, he changed his name from PIASECKI to SANDERS.

James E. SANDERS died 27 Feb 2003, in Scottsdale, Maricopa County, Arizona. He was buried in the Phoenix National Cemetry, Section A9, Row E, Site 38.

"When my mom had me and she was in the hospital, my grandpa would sneak to the hospital to see me and visit with my mom everyday. That was very special to my mom." [*DRR]

"My grarnpa is really neat. He would do anything for my grandmother. If she wanted a pie at the last minute, he would run out to the store, which was about 10 - 15 minutes away, and he would get one pie and bring it back." [*DRR]

"Every evening after dinner and after watching tv, my grandfather and I would have a bowl of rice krispies. He always had a bowl of cereal before going to bed." [*DRR]

"They had like two acres behind their house in Hinsdale, and my grandpa was always out there on his little lawn mower mowing the lawn. I can always remember him doing the real physical stuff like cleaning the gutters. He was always working outside, and my grandmother was always inside." [*DRR]

"One time that I was at my grandma and grandpa’s house, there was a tornado warning. It was late at night. It was really exciting. We went around and closed all the windows up. We went down in the basement. We took a radio. They used to play canasta. They taught me how to play when I was young. My mom still plays it too. We had a refrigerator down in the basement. And, we just kind of hung out down there for about five hours. They played cards in this huge basement. It was fun. There was a swing down ther hung from the beams." [*DRR]

"My grandpa was working for some locomotive company. He retired from there after twenty-five years. He was working and he retired during the period of time that I was visiting and so then he was around more when I did visit." [*DRR]

"My dad worked for Electromotive in LaGrange IL for many, many years. I think his job had to do with sales promotion. At Christmas time they would have great Christmas parties every year. He would take sister and me there for the party and walk us through the factory and the offices. We would get a grab bag present. And, we would see the trains." [*MPQ]

"Dad belonged to the American Legion. The outfit he was a part of came out of the Electromotive Division, which made the locomotive trains. They had a fake train that they used to ride in parades." [*MPQ]

1940 Census
5236 W 31st Street,
Cicero, Cook County, IL
John & May D., John Jr., Thomas, and James

About 1949
Laurie & Tom
Jim & Marcy & Bonnie

16 Jun 1962
Carl & Connie Pietrzak's Wedding Reception

[*DRR Dawn Ranftl Ramirez, *HJL Herbert Joseph Langner, *MPQ Marsha Piasecki Quick, *TAP Thomas Allen Piasecki]

James PIASECKI SANDERS

1921 - 2003