John Gawlik

JOHN GAWLIK LYONS – John Gawlik, 93, passed away on Friday (November 26, 2021) at Newark Wayne Community Hospital. Due to current COVID-19 concerns, a Celebration of Life will be held in the spring of 2022. His family celebrated a Mass of Christian burial at St. Michael’s Church in Lyons. He was interred at South Lyons Cemetery with Military Honors. Memorials in his name may be made to St. Michael’s Church of Lyons, c/o St. Joseph the Worker Parish, 43. W. DeZeng St., Clyde, New York, 14433. John was born in Poland on December 5, 1927, the son of the late Wojacach and Kotozyna Zygmunt Gawlik. At age sixteen he was taken from his home by the Nazis on Christmas Day. He managed to survive because a Nazi soldier needed help on his family farm and the soldier’s son picked John to be that helper. An American soldier helped bring him to the United States after the fall of the Nazis. John served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and one of his duties was to guard General Eisenhower’s home, where he was able to get to know Mamie Eisenhower well. John was a man of faith and a devoted communicant of St. Michael’s Church in Lyons. A proud member of the Lyons American Legion, he served several terms as Commander of the local Legion, and also worked his way up to the position of New York State Vice-Commander. He and his wife Josephine traveled to 48 states for Legion national conventions, making numerous friends around the country. John worked at G.W. Lisk in Clifton Springs as a tool and die maker. He retired there after 40 years. He is survived by his wife Josephine Brusso Gawlik; two children, Patricia (William Watkins) Gawlik, and Christopher (Meghan) Gawlik; a granddaughter Carolyn Gawlik; three stepchildren Charlene McCarthy, Jan (Michael) Cutillo, and Suzanne (Allen) Sussman; five step grandchildren; a sister Jozefa Pociecha and brother-in-law Ferdynand Janus of Poland. He was predeceased by his first wife Antoinette (Sollenne) Gawlik; second wife Carolyn Jane Verdehem; stepson Ron Mastracci. www.keysorfuneralhomes.com