Mitchel Korzenko

Mitchel Korzenko WEB 1

Mitchel Korzenko passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, with family at his side after being sung a Polish lullaby. He lived a humble life filled with all the things that mattered to him: his God, his Family, and simple Courtesy. He was the proverbial “glass half-full.”

In 1924, Mitch was born into a comfortable life in Naliboki, Poland. He learned about beekeeping, politics, and responsibility at his father’s knee. This wonderful life was lost to him at the age of 16 when Nazis invaded his area of Poland from the west and Stalinist forces from the east. His father was arrested, killed, and buried in an unknown mass grave believed to be in Smolensk, Russia. Mitch, his two brothers, and one sister were involuntarily rounded up and transported in packed train cars to Novosibirsk, USSR. In this gulag, they became the forced labor that built the Trans-Siberian Railroad. His home, his town, and his beloved church that anchored his life were burned to the ground.

In a historical compact of WWII, Churchill and Stalin became allies to fight Hitler. Mitch, one of 7,000 Polish USSR prisoners joined the newly formed Polish Army and set out on the journey of a lifetime traversing the historical Trail of Hope, crossing Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, and Palestine down to the Mediterranean Sea. There, they boarded the Île de France, outfitting it for a journey to Scotland. They were now out of Soviet hands and part of Churchill’s British fighting force. Silently in his heart, Mitch, like all the other enlisted Poles, would be fighting for their homeland also.

Due to U-Boat blockades and torpedo damage to the ship, Mitch’s expected Scotland destination route changed. The need for safety and ship repair allowed him the opportunity to experience lands vastly different from his own Eastern Europe and meet people from Morocco and countries down the entire West African coast as far as South Africa before crossing the Atlantic to Brazil in order to make their way to Glasgow from the west. There Mitch became the Polish general’s preferred driver in the Polish Army Corp #2 and also a paratrooper under the auspices of the British 82nd Airborne. He remains a veteran of both countries after seeing action in Northern France that no one ought to have seen.

After the war ended, he oversaw several Polish Displaced Persons Camps in Germany filled with those conscripted involuntarily into Nazi Forced Labor. There, he met the love of his life for just short of 70 years, Wanda. Within one month, they were married and made homes easily befriending neighbors everywhere they lived from Scotland to England and from Chicago to LaGrange Park IL. After retirement, Wanda cooked and Mitch ate. They actively enjoyed working and socializing with Polish Veterans Posts and Auxiliaries. Mitch remained the good neighbor, helping others with projects and their misfortunes. He was never short on advice.

During retirement, Mitch became blind in both eyes. Cornea transplants gave him vision, truly a miracle until, years later, the transplants rejected and left him fully blind. Wanda became his eyes. She led and he followed even on the dance floor for two of their granddaughter’s weddings—the tango was their favorite. They loved to dance!

After Wanda passed away, Mitch moved to Maine to be closer to family. A visit to Mass Eye&Ear brought unexpected hope, as he was a candidate for an artificial cornea despite his advanced age. The keratoprosthesis [K-Pro] allowed him to move around his environment with confidence, though his macular degeneration would continue to increase until his last day.

Winterberry Heights Assisted Living was his home during this time. While keeping in touch with his Chicagoland compatriots by telephone, he, again, made good friends with Winterberry’s staff and residents who became his extended family. His first year, he was dubbed the Prom King at the facility’s Senior Prom. During his final days at Winterberry, Northern Light Hospice added invaluable guidance to Mitch, the staff, and his family.

It is appropriate that Mitch lived in Maine during his final years, a state where the sun first rises in his adopted country and where becoming a U.S. citizen was the most important day of his life next to marrying Wanda.

He held great affection for his beloved half-sister in Warsaw, Poland, Alina Kielesinska, and leaves behind a grateful daughter, Teresa (Fred) Wlodarski of Orono ME, two grandchildren who were the pride of his life, Amy Lynn (Jeremy Ball) Wlodarski of Carlisle PA & Northeast Harbor ME, and Jennifer Ann (Michael Stahler) Wlodarski of Salt Lake City UT. His wealth was in his great-grandchildren, “The Greats,” Maia Teresa Stahler, Benjamin Mitchell Ball, and Eleanor Rosalie Ball who he could never hug enough. His proverbial cup overfloweth.

Visitation will be from 8:30am to 10:15am on Saturday, December 14, 2019, at Hitzman Funeral Home, 9445 West 31st Street in Brookfield, IL 60513. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow the same day at 11:00am at St. Francis Xavier Church, 124 N. Spring Avenue, La Grange IL. Interment will be at Queen of Heaven Cemetery where Mitch will be laid to rest beside his beloved Wanda. Reception will be announced after the service. In lieu of flowers, please consider giving the gift of sight with donations in memory of Mitchel Korzenko to Mass Eye & Ear “Chodosh K-Pro Fund,” Massachusetts Eye & Ear Development Office, 243 Charles Street, Boston MA 02114. Gifts can also be made online in Mitch’s name at www.MassEyeAndEar.org/donations or by calling (617) 573- 4312. Information 708-485-2000 or www.HitzemanFuneral.com

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  1. Stefania Bucierka condolence:

    Please accept our sympathy. It is sad to hear of Mitch’s passing. We remember the good times that were had in Wisconsin. Mitch will be missed. So very sorry for your loss.

    Stefania Bucierka
    Michael Bucierka
    Mary Meinke
    Steve Bucierka


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