Edgar F. Paski Sr., loving father devoted husband and faithful Roman Catholic, passed away on Friday November 20, 2015, of old age after living a very eventful life of 96 years.
Born in a small Midwest town at the close of the 1st World War, Mr. Paski and his family were living the American dream. His father (Bert Paski) was a foreman at the local furniture factory enabling his family to live in their own house and enjoying a comfortable life. When the Great Depression hit, the Paski family suffered greatly like all too many at that time. After High School, Mr. Paski joined the U.S. Naval Reserve to serve his country and receive assistance to pay for college. This was during the summer of 1940. April of 1941 saw Mr. Paski being called to full active duty as a Radio Operator. During the summer of 1941, he volunteered to join the Naval Air Corps and was stationed in Washington D.C. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Mr. Paski went downtown because he just happened to have tickets to visit both the Senate and House at the US Capitol, so he witnessed President Roosevelt asking for a declaration of war against Imperial Japan.
As the war widened, Mr. Paski flew in TBFs, dive bombers and B-24s to Bomb Nazi submarines from New York City to Greenland. He was then moved to research and development with Radar and IFF equipment (he helped prepare the aircraft that escorted the ship “Augusta” that was taking President Roosevelt to a secret meeting with Winston Churchill). After the war and having achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer, Mr. Paski went to college to earn an engineering degree. He applied to the General Electric Co. and was hired as a Radio Engineer to be part of a new team that would be developing and producing missile technologies for the government. This career lasted 33 years and saw Mr. Paski working on the communications portion of famous projects such as Mercury, Gemini and Apollo and many other manned space projects.
Mr. Paski is survived by 4 sons: Edgar Jr., Phillip, Raymond-Jude Sr., Christopher; his only daughter, Pamela; 17 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren. Mr. Paski was preceded in death by his lovely wife, Rose-Marie (62 years of marriage); his parents, Bert and Johanna Paski; his sister, Eleanor (97 years old); his brother, Ewald; and his youngest child, Matthew John.
Mr. Paski had 3 children VE7CPF, N7YKL, N3PKS and 2 grandchildren KB3MLQ, KE7ELS who are hams. He earned his ham license when he was a teenager and had to take a bus from his small Michigan town to Chicago to take his test before FCC examiners. His original call sign was W8VGX.