Obit: Gruszynski, Joseph F. (1857 - 1933)

Contact: Stan
Email: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: GRUSZYNSKI KRUSIK KANIEWSKI BORUCKI

----Sources: THORP COURIER (Thorp, Clark County, Wis.) 02/23/1933

Gruszynski, Joseph F. (15 FEB 1857 - 16 FEB 1933)

Joseph F. Gruszynski, aged 76 years and one day, passed away at his home here at eleven minutes to one o’clock Thursday afternoon, Feb. 16th, 1933, of heart trouble, with which he has been a patient sufferer for two and a half years past. The love and care of a devoted wife and children, prolonged life far beyond the prophecies of the most skilled physicians.

He was a devout Catholic and in the experience of a lifetime the writer hereof can safely say, he never met one who seemed to more nearly walk hand and hand with God. Conscience guided every act. He was strictly honest in the service he rendered. In short, he was not only a Christian, but he was an honorable gentleman, in the highest sense that term implies. Not for him be our tears, rather let us crown his grave with garlands; few of us will live as long or as well, and fewer yet will the Angel of Death greet with such a loving touch.

Joseph Faustyn Gruszynski was born in Naklo, Germany (now Poland) on Feb. 15, 1857. At the age of 15 he emigrated to this country and secured employment in the coal mines of Mt. Carmel, Pa. He was seriously injured there and suffered the loss of one leg. After a short sojourn to the place of his birth he returned to Mt. Carmel and on June 24th, 1884 was united in marriage to Miss Florentina Krusik. Seven children blessed this union, two of them passing at an early age at Milwaukee, Wis. Soon after their marriage the couple moved to Excelsior, Pa., where he was postmaster and also operated a general store for seven years. In 1891 the family moved to Milwaukee where deceased operated a pop factory and was interested in the Milwaukee Brewing Co. Nine years were spent in Milwaukee and one year in Antigo, Wis., before the arrival of Mr. Gruszynski and family to Thorp (Clark Co., Wis.) in 1901. He became a farm implement dealer for several years and upon the establishment of Rural Route No. 2 from the Thorp post office, was appointed mail carrier, serving his patrons faithfully from 1907 to 1917, when he resigned on account of failing health. During this time, he, with his son Louis, owned and operated a box factory at Bellinger, 8 miles north of Thorp, but which has, in latter years, been discontinued. Retired in 1917, he again resumed the duties of a public servant as village treasurer in 1925, serving until 1929.

Deceased was an honorary member of the local group of the Polish National Alliance.

Besides his devoted wife, he leaves to mourn, three sons, Adolph of Rochester, Minn., and Louis and Edmund of Thorp; two daughters, Mrs. Martin Kaniewski of South Bend, Ind., and Miss Clara of Thorp; one sister, Mrs. Joanna Borucki of Milwaukee, and five grandchildren.

Father A.M. Muckerheide conducted services for the deceased at 9:00 o’clock Monday morning, at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church. The remains were taken by train to Milwaukee and the funeral held from St. Hyacinth Church at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Father Goral officiating. He was laid to rest in St. Adalbert’s Cemetery beside his two children.

The pallbearers we

Re: Floryan Anyzewski, Jos. S. Bogumill, Nick Possley, F.J. Conway, Paul Glowacki, Frank Szatalowicz.