Alexander W. Ciszewski lived a vivacious life of 90 years, he was a WWII veteran, engineer and architect. Alexander married Marjorie A. Gochinski, his wife of 65 years and had three children; Michael Ciszewski, Alexandra Whitney, Karen Cole, and his grandson Greyson Kellner.
Born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Mr. Ciszewski attended Mater Dolorosa Catholic School. Relocated to Hatfield, Alexander attended Smith Academy where he achieved excellent academic standards.
Mr. Ciszewski learned to fly at the age of 15 at La Fleur airport in Northampton. One day while tending the fields nearby, a pilot offered him flying lessons in exchange for fuel for the farm's tractors due to the WWII rationing.
After graduating from Smith Academy, Alexander's love for flying led him to enlist in the Army Air Corp Red Devils Squadron, where he received his cadet flight training at Kelly Field, TX along with General Curtis LeMay, studying aeronautics and engineering. Assigned to the Asian front as a Captain, he not only test flew P6s', P51s' and B24s', logging in over 2,000 hours, but was a "poster boy" for the Army Air Corp recruitment. His assignments would take him cross country to Texas, Tennessee, California, Alaska, and Long Island. Mr. Ciszewski was a member of the Hatfield American Legion 344.
Upon leaving the Army Air Corp he applied his education (Baylor College, Houston and the University of Tennessee, Nashville) and training from the service to the field of injection mold design and was employed by Prophylactic Brush Company in Florence, MA, Hamilton Standard, and TRW. Alexander was a pioneer in the growing field of plastics engineering. He worked on projects such as the NASA space suit; catalytic converter; novel and innovative toys like Weebles; the first electric toothbrush and a host of other products still in use today. Alexander enjoyed dabbling in architecture, having designed many homes, bridges, fire and police stations within the town of Hatfield and surrounding communities. At the end of Alexander's career he served as the Hatfield Town Assessor.
Alexander believed in education, freedom, peace and prosperity for all of humanity. At his funeral Alexander was honored by the Westover Air Force Honor Guard and flag presentation ceremony while the American Legion of Hatfield performed a 3 Volley Salute.