Richard J. Gerszewski

Richard J. Gerszewski

LOGAN a€" Richard Julian Gerszewski, 93, passed away in Logan, Utah on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 from natural causes.

He was born November 13, 1915, in Warsaw, North Dakota, a son of Felix and Julia Lizakowski Gerszewski. Richard grew up in and attended school in Minto, North Dakota and went on to attend the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. It was there that he began to fulfill his lifelong interest in aviation by reassembling a damaged airplane and attaining his pilot license. The experiences he had in his early years of barnstorming prepared him for his next adventure of flying as a naval aviator during World War II. It was during this time that he married Ida Lorraine Torkelson in Corpus Christi, Texas on May 5, 1943. They were later blessed with three children, Suzanne, James, and Don. They enjoyed the adventure of relocating many times in the early years, raising their family and moving to California, Florida, Washington, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia and Minnesota.

Following World War II, Richard continued to fly for the U.S. Navy during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 1949 and during the Korean War. With the advent of the jet age, he accepted a position with the Federal Aviation Administration in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the senior air carrier inspector with oversight of the worldwide operations of Northwest Airlines. After 33 years of service in the U.S. Navy and 22 years with the FAA, Richard retired in 1979, and shortly afterwards he and Lorraine moved to Salt Lake City to be close to their children and grandchildren. Richard remained happy and busy in his retirement years always tinkering on household projects and helping neighbors with anything that needed to be fixed. Following Lorraine''s illness with cancer in 2004, they moved to Logan, Utah where they resided at Legacy House Assisted Living until Lorraine''s death in December of 2004. Richard then moved to Pioneer Valley in Logan where he made many wonderful friends and was able to live independently until last year when he moved back to Legacy House.

He is survived by his sons, James (Sunni) and Don (Marnae), daughter-in-law, Monika; 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife Lorraine, his daughter Suzanne (Kent) and his grandson, Jonny.

The family would like to thank the loving and caring staff at Legacy House for helping make Richard''s last months cheerful and pleasant.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 13 at 1 p.m. at Lindquist''s Bountiful Mortuary, 727 North 400 East.

Friends may call at the mortuary on Saturday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Interment, Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Salt Lake City.

Send condolences to the family at: www.lindquistmortuary.com