dies at 104. Veteran Cemetery Flag (no sheep/Pixabay)
JANUARY 28, 2023, CASSANDRA DAY – THE MIDDLETOWN PRESS
One of the oldest WWII veterans in Connecticut died in his sleep last week in Middletown, taking with him more than 100 years’ worth of memories starting when Main Street was a dirt road.
John Cyrulik Sr., a 28-year firefighter who dropped out of ninth grade at 16 to help his mother support their family of 11 children, and later fought in the South Pacific, passed away Jan. 13, shortly after his 104th birthday.
He married his late wife, Lottie (Wladyslawa) Cyrulik, in 1949. They had four children.
She died in 1996. Cyrulik served in the fire service from 1952 to 1980, and his brother
Frank also was a firefighter who later became chief of the department.
He was buried with military honors at the State Veterans Cemetery Wednesday, with
a procession from Biega’s Funeral Home to St. Mary’s Church and then the cemetery.
In his time as a firefighter he drove a 1930 Tiller truck, which operators steered from the back of the vehicle, Chief Jay Woron said. Cyrulik’s daughter-in-law Leslie Cyrulik said the truck’s tires were very thin, so it could not be driven long distances since they would heat up quickly.
So the truck was relegated to putting out fires on Main Street, she added.
“He had no formal training. He learned on the job,” which was common at the time,
she said. “They would go to fires not knowing how to put it out. They would just wing it,”
his daughter-in-law said, chuckling at the thought.
“The regular firefighters took the newbies in and taught them what to do,” she added.
Personnel lined up in front of the Main Street station Wednesday clad in their coats and helmets with the apparatus all lit up, Woron said.
“They were at attention,” Leslie Cyrulik said. “It was amazing. Everyone on Main Street stopped and looked,” and police stopped traffic to allow the procession to proceed.
In 1942, at 23, John Cyrulik was drafted, and spent the next 44 months in the 135th Artillery, Battalion C Division of the 37th Ohio Infantry Division. They served in Fiji, Philippine Islands, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Aparri, and Luzon.
He was discharged in 1945.
His earliest memories were of horse-drawn carriages, a common mode of transportation
at the time. He was a jovial and mirthful man who often had people in stitches listening to
his jokes and stories, his daughter-in-law said. His family attributed his view of life and
hearty diet of liver and root vegetables to his longevity.
He also loved food. Leslie Cyrulik’s husband, Tony, the centenarian’s son, is 6-foot-2, while John Cyrulik was 5-foot-3. The family would marvel at his appetite for being such
a small man, his daughter-in-law said.
“The guy could eat circles around any man,” she pointed out. “We would sit there at Thanksgiving. Everyone would have one plateful, and dad would be going back for seconds, sometimes thirds. “Where is he putting that?” she’d ask.
“As he’s taking the last bite of turkey and stuffing, he looked at me and said, ‘you’ve got the pie ready?’” The Cyruliks were poor growing up, and sometimes only ate bread and milk. “That’s all they could afford,” Leslie Cyrulik said. He’d often talk about eating chickens’ and pigs’ feet. “They’d add vinegar and suck on the bone to get marrow out.
“I knew him for 32 years,” she continued. “I never saw the guy angry or sad.
He enjoyed life for what it had to offer.” Her father-in-law would tell his stories
over and again, she added: “He was a good talker.”
She was tickled every time people would ask how he was feeling in his later years.
He would say, “if I can move my elbows outward and don’t touch wood, it’s a good day.”
He was a very religious man who would watch Mass on television usually three hours a day, and attended Mass at St. Mary of Czestochowa Catholic Church weekly.
He’d help members of the Ladies Guild make pierogies, she added. The centenarian would make the coffee, Leslie Cyrulik noted, as he insisted the way he prepared it was superior.
At his 100th party, many learned he had never graduated from high school.
Back then, his daughter-in-law explained, with their parents’ permission, students
could get a waiver to work. He made 15 cents a day pulling weeds, cutting grass
for 30 cents, she said.
She contacted the Board of Education and the superintendent at the time researched the exact diploma handed out in 1936 — which, back then, was 2 feet by 30 inches — and presented it in a frame, to John Cyrulik’s surprise.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz has been invited to Cyrulik’s birthday parties since he turned 101. She also attended his 104th. The family kept his celebration hidden from the patriarch in his later years, his daughter-in-law explained.
Firefighters named the driveway to their rear parking lot Cyrulik Way in his honor,
Woron noted, as he used to work at the Cross Street station.
At the funeral service, Bysiewicz pulled his daughter-in-law aside and asked jokingly
“how are you going to top this celebration?”
She recalled Cyrulik telling her at his last party that he planned on living until 105.
She remembered he was “very, very sharp” and had a firm handshake.
Only 2,810 WWII veterans in Connecticut are living, she pointed out.
Also, in all, 16 million people served during the war. As of 2022, about
167,000 were still alive. “Every day, sadly, we lose them,” Bysiewicz noted.
There was “one degree of separation” between Cyrulik and her aunt Rose, who was best friends with one of his sisters, she said. Leslie Cyrulik compiled his life story into a bound book intended for his great-grandchild Samantha.
“I see Samantha learning and enjoying life at her now young age of five, and hope her curiosity for life will continue as she grows up,” John Cyrulik wrote to her. “If I could give her just one piece of advice to help her with her future life, it would be to go to school and learn as much as you can and always be sure to read, read, read!”
He had all his faculties until he died. “We’re so lucky we had him and
his own mind until the end,” Leslie Cyrulik said.
Shortly before his death, he fell and spent a week in the hospital. Unfortunately,
she added, his legs became weak from inaction, so he was transferred to rehab
for a couple of weeks.
In the early morning of Jan. 13, the nurse told his daughter-in-law he was in bed with
his boots on. He asked to have his shoes taken off because he was hot, Leslie Cyrulik said.
“He was laughing and telling jokes,” she said. “A half-hour later, he was gone.”
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28-Year Middletown (CT) Firefighter, South Pacific WWII Veteran Dies at 104 –
FirefighterNation: Fire Rescue – Firefighting News and Community
She considers him a “true Middletown treasure.”
JOHN CYRULIK OBITUARY
John E. Cyrulik, Sr., 104, of Middletown, beloved husband of the late Wladyslawa
“Lottie” (Kowalczyk) Cyrulik, passed away peacefully on Friday January 13, 2023, at Portland Care and Rehabilitation Centre. He was born December 10, 1918 in Middletown, one of 11 children of the late Waclaw and Pauline (Bys) Cyrulik. John and all of his siblings were born in their 4-room home on Butternut Street.
As a child John earned money to help his family by picking tobacco for 50 cents per day, clearing weeds at Wilcox & Crittenden Factory for 15 cents per hour and cutting grass for 30 cents per hour. John left school at age 16 to help support his siblings. At that time schools issued working papers which allowed students to leave school and take jobs.
At 17 John got his first big job at the I.E. Palmer Company.
On September 16, 1940 the Selective Training and Service Act – today we know it as
“The Draft” was instituted which required all men between 21 and 45 to register. John registered and completed his physical on December 5, 1941 to fulfill this requirement.
On January 15, 1942 at 23 years of age, John was drafted. He would spend the next 44 months serving this country in the 135th Artillery, Battalion C Division of the 37th Ohio Infantry Division. His entire 44 months in the service were in the South Pacific which included being on Fiji, the Philippine Islands, Guadalcanal, Bougainville and Luzon.
John was honorably discharged as a Corporal from the Army in October, 1945.
When John returned home to Middletown after being discharged, he resumed his former job at Wilcox & Crittenden. His future wife, Lottie also worked there, but the two knew each other from elementary school. John and Lottie were married on November 19, 1949. After their wedding, they lived with John’s mother on Butternut Street to help her raise his siblings and to save for their future home.
Eventually John and Lottie moved into a rental house on Pearl Street and then on Washington Street. Sometime around 1961/62 they applied for a G.I. Bill’s housing benefit and were able to purchase a building lot and the custom home they had envisioned was built. John became a volunteer firefighter in Middletown while he was still working at Wilcox and Crittenden.
As a volunteer he worked 3 days on 3 days off but could not afford to give up his full-time employment – but that would change. John’s brother, Frank, was a “regular” firefighter for the City of Middletown and eventually was able to help John facilitate a “regular” position as a Middletown Firefighter. John was a Middletown Firefighter from January 10, 1952, retiring on November 3, 1980.
To supplement the family income John also worked on an “on-call” basis for Biega Funeral Home for 32 years. John enjoyed watching all types of sports from golf, race cars to football and everything in between. In particular John was a lifelong diehard Boston Red Sox fan. He also was a member of the City of Middletown Professional Firefighters Local 1073 and a member of the 37th Division Veterans Association.
Always proud to be 100% Polish he belonged to the Polish Falcons of America NEST 519 and the Tadeusz Kosciuszko Society Inc. (i.e., “K-Club”). Always the helper, each year John could always be found making pierogies with the St. Mary of Czestochowa Ladies Guild. John and Lottie enjoyed going on various bus trips with St Mary’s Senior Club. Sadly, Lottie pre-deceased John on May 21, 1996.
John continued to live his life as a widower with fortitude and selflessness,
always there for his family and friends. John is survived by four children, Diane and her husband Stanley Wollock of Deep River, John Cyrulik, Jr. and his wife Carol of Leland, NC, Anthony Cyrulik and his wife Leslie of Rocky Hill, Philip Cyrulik and his wife Gail of Overland Park, KS; his brother, Stanley Cyrulik of Waterford and sister, Mary Tomczak of Middletown, grandson, Stanley Wollock, Jr. and his wife Michelle of East Lyme, and great granddaughter, Samantha Wollock.
John was predeceased by his brothers, Edward, Frank, Joseph, and Adolph Cyrulik
and sisters, Mary Cyrulik, Helen Malinowski, Stephanie Bystrek, and Veronica Kolenda.
The family appreciates the wonderful care from the doctors, nurses, aides and other
staff members at the Portland Care and Rehabilitation Centre.
The family would like to send special acknowledgement to Dr. Alison Carini for the many years of care and support she provided to John. Funeral service will be held at Biega Funeral Home, 3 Silver St., Middletown, on Wednesday (Jan. 18th) at 9:45 a.m. followed by a Funeral Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary of Czestochowa Church in Middletown. Burial with Military honors’ will be held at the State Veterans’ Cemetery.
Visitation will be held Tuesday (Jan. 17) from 5 to 7 p.m. at Biega Funeral Home.
Those who wish may send memorial contributions to St. Mary of Czestochowa Church,
79 S. Main St., Middletown, CT 06457. To share memories or express condolences online.
Please visit www.biegafuneralhome.com.
Thank you and ur family for ur service
No other Country has this beautiful pledge with God, liberty and justice.
That I know of to be the Greatest Country on earth!!!
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This is a list of last surviving veterans of World War II (1939–1945) among various groups of veterans, as identified by reliable sources. About 70 million people fought in World War II and, as of 2022, there are still approximately 167,000 surviving veterans in the United States alone. List of last surviving World War II veterans – Wikipedia
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