Anthony Frank "Tony" Gonski
1LT in Signal Co, Special : Officer
Military occupational specialty: 501
ASN#442467
Born 1919 in NJ, Died 1994
Other residence(s): Camden, NJ; Turnersville, NJ
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: college student
College education before the war: Missouri School of Mines
Tony Gonski was born on August 13, 1919 in Camden, NJ, the older of two children. Both of his parents had been born in Poland; his father operated a lathe machine and his mother worked in a cigar factory.
He graduated from Camden High School in 1938 and went on to study electrical engineering at the Missouri School of Mines (now the Missouri University of Science and Technology) in Rolla, MO. There he was a member of the Society of American Military Engineers and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and belonged to Sigma Pi fraternity.
He was commissioned a 2LT at his graduation in 1942 and was ordered to report to Fort Wood, NJ in May, 1942. (HIs enlistment record gives his date of enlistment as May 28, 1942.)
In January, 1944, he was stationed at Camp Arlington, VA when his engagement to Stella Krukowski was announced. Stella was his Camden sweetheart and also the daughter of Polish immigrants.
Tony served in Europe with the Signal Company Special and married Stella on July 2, 1945, immediately after his return to the states. He was discharged from the Army on January 1, 1946 with the rank of 1LT and returned to Camden. There he got a job as an industrial arts teacher at Hatch Junior High School.
He and Stella became the parents of two: a son, Francis, and a daughter, Christine.
Tony spent 35 years with the Camden School District. He was promoted to chair of the Industrial Arts Department for the Camden city schools and in 1958 was named Business Manager for the Camden Board of Education. There he was responsible for buildings and grounds in the school system, among other things. He retired from that job in January 1981 for health reasons.
Stella died in 1986; they were living in Turnersville, NJ at that time. Tony died on July 16, 1994 and is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Blackwood, NJ.
Photo:
1942 college yearbook (see below)
Sources:
1930 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/21899044:6224?ssrc=pt&tid=46581154&pid=6565383923
1940 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/132632508:2442?ssrc=pt&tid=46581154&pid=6565383923
1940 draft card
1942 college yearbook
1942 article in The Morning Post (Camden NJ) re his education and military service
https://www.newspapers.com/image/447882574/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1944 article in The Morning Post (Camden NJ) re his engagement and military service
https://www.newspapers.com/image/447746634/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1950 census
1958 article in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ) re his work
https://www.newspapers.com/image/180925415/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski
1959 article in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ) re his work
https://www.newspapers.com/image/180560654/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1979 article in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ) re his work
https://www.newspapers.com/image/183626474/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1981 article in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ) re his retirement
https://www.newspapers.com/image/182813313/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1986 wife's death notice in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/182522649/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1994 obituary in the Courier-Post (Camden NJ)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/183170663/?terms=anthony%20f%20gonski&match=1
1994 VA death record
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6138469:2441?ssrc=pt&tid=46581154&pid=6565383923