Richard Z. Szymanski's Obituary
Richard Z. Szymanski, age 94, passed away Friday, October 9, 2020. He was born September 15, 1926 in Baranowicze, Poland to Karol and Maria (Bialozierska) Szymanski. Richard served in the U.S. Army Auxiliary in France during WWII, then joined the Polish Army under British Command in England. After his military service, he studied engineering at Regent Polytechnic in London, England and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Engineering. Richard immigrated to the United States from England in 1954 and began working at the Huck Corporation in New York City, which was an engineering firm for Brunswick Corporation. Brunswick recruited Richard into the Muskegon location, where he worked for 25 years. After retiring from Brunswick, Richard worked as a Senior Product Engineer at Haworth Corp. until he retired in 1995. During his career, Richard held 3 patents with Brunswick Corp. and 1 patent with Haworth Corp. He met the love of his life shortly after coming to work for Brunswick and on April 3, 1966, he married Catherine T. Gerencer at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Muskegon Heights. He was a member of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church. Survivors include his loving wife, Catherine T. Szymanski; 7 children, Michael Szymanski, Richard (Kendra) Szymanski, Mark (Sara) Szymanski, Paul (Tammy) Szymanski, Barbara Szost, Renee (Jeff) Widmayer, Edward (Raquel) Szymanski; 21 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Cindy Hamacher; his parents; and 1 sister, Teresa Bak. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:00 AM Saturday, October 17, 2020 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church (2929 McCracken Street) with the Rev. Msgr. R. Louis Stasker presiding. Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery. Visitation will be held 5-8 PM Friday at The Lee Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Services, 6291 Harvey St, Norton Shores, MI 49444. The Rosary will be prayed at 5:00 PM Friday. Memorial Contributions may be directed to St. Francis DeSales Church.
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