Kownacki, Ted J.

Michelle Kukan

1925-09-27

Mahwah, NJ

1998-02-26

Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah, NJ

Police Officer (Mahwah Police Department; 1951-1983)

Fireman (Mahwah Fire Department; 1952-?)

42101410

1943-12-01

1946-08-22

Purple Heart

Tadeusz Kownacki enlisted into the Army 1943-12-01. According to his daughter Antoinette “Toni”, he enlisted into the Army because he did not want to be drafted into the Navy. He served with the 289th Infantry Regiment, 75th Infantry Division. He was hospitalized twice during his military career. In February of 1944, he was hospitalized with meningitis and released the same year. He was also wounded in January 1945 during the Battle of the Bulge thus earning a Purple Heart. During the Battle of the Bulge (1944-12-16 through 1945-01-25), his daughter remembers her father recounting that his unit used grenades to break through the dirt to create foxholes because the ground was frozen. His femoral shaft was fractured into multiple pieces by artillery. He was hit outside of his foxhole while getting hot chocolate to warm up. As a result of the fracture breaking through his skin, Kownacki developed osteomyelitis, an infection in the bone. His fracture was treated with skeletal traction in which pins and/or Kirchner’s wire were placed directly into his femoral bone, then weights through pulleys/roped were attached to it. Doctors also removed tissue and the dead bone. His injury was treated in England. After England, he was sent to Chatham, MA for rehab. He was discharged from the hospital in August of 1946. The way his fracture healed caused his injured leg to be shorter than the other, and led to his need of special shoes from the VA. His injury was considered a disability and he was discharged from the Army 1946-08-22.

Tadeusz Joseph “Ted” Kownacki was born to Albin and Otylia Kownacki on 1925-09-27 in Mahwah, NJ. He was the youngest of six. His older siblings were: Lottie, Mary, Stephanie, Joseph, and Angela. The Kownacki's lived on Island Road in Mahwah, NJ. Knowacki attended the Immaculate Heart of Mary School and Ramsey High School. Before his military career, he worked at Gluckin Corp. in Suffern, NY. He enlisted into the Army 1943-12-01 and was discharged 1946-08-22. He married Helen Krusieski in 1948. The couple had four children: Michael, Elaine, Anne, and Antoinette. He joined the Mahwah Police Department in 1951. He was promoted to Captain in February of 1975. He retired as Captain 1983-01-01. As a police patrolman, Kownacki joined the Mahwah Fire Department in June of 1952. He was named Fire Chief of the year 1960-1961 for companies 1, 2, 3, and 4. He was: president and state delegate of PBA Local #79, NJ State PBA delegate Local #143, president of the Bergen County Police Mutual Aid Society, life member of the NJ State Firemen's Association beginning in 1965, a secretary of the Firemen's Relief Association (1971-1997), member of Mahwah Elks Lodge #1941 from 1968 until his death, member of the Mahwah VFW #7124 beginning in 1946, and a Disabled American Veteran life member beginning in 1985. He visited the rehab center, owned by the nurse that took care of him, Mrs. Hill, in the late 1960s. He later visited the area where he fought during the Battle of the Bulge in 1990 and found the cemetery where his unit was buried. He died 1998-02-26. He was 72.

Father: Albin

Mother: Otylia

Siblings:
Lottie
Mary
Stephanie
Joseph
Angela


Wife: Helen (née Krusieski)

Children:
Michael
Elaine
Anne
Antoinette

Grandchildren:
Janne
Angela
Herbert
Thaddeus
Matthew
Christopher
Stephanie
Michael
Elizabeth

Photo 1: Kownacki in his US Army uniform, place and date unknown (Toni Kownacki). 

Photo 2: Kownacki's draft card, completed 1943-09-27 in Ramsey, NJ (Ancestry Library).

Photo 3: A picture Kownacki (center) with his medals/awards (Toni Kownacki). 

Photo 4: "PTL. Tadeusz J. Kownacki," circa 1960 (The Sunday News). 

Photo 5: Kownacki (left), circa 1958 presenting a plague to a patrolman (The Record). 

Photo 6: Kownacki in his police uniform, place and date of photo unkown (The Record).

Photo 7: Tadeusz and Helen Kownacki's headstone, Maryrest Cemetery, date of photo unknown (Find a Grave).