John J Wilczynski Jr born on January 23, 1937, died in Scottdale, AZ on July 9, 2024, after a lengthy battle with dementia.
John was the first of two children born to John J Wilczynski and the 10th of eleven children born to Mary Victoria Wilczynski in Forest City, PA. John’s dad, like most of the people in Forest City, worked in the coal mines. John’s mom passed away when he was 13 years old, and he was then raised by his older sister. It was a hard life growing up and to help his family John delivered milk before school and helped collect coal from the RR tracks and wild fruits and berries.
Not wanting to work in the mines, John enlisted in the Navy for three years as a Sonar Technician and was stationed on Nantucket Island. He then attended the University of Missouri where he earned a degree in Forestry Management and met his future wife of 55 years, Rita, while working in the women’s cafeteria. He also worked during the summer as a cook for a US Forest Service “Hot Shot” (rapid response) fire crew.
After graduation John and Rita were married in St. Louis, MO in a church at the foot of the famous arch before taking up a job with the USFS in Mt. Shasta, CA. John spent the first 13 years with the USFS in Mt Shasta where he and Rita had two children, John III, and Julie. He rose through the ranks to head timber sales for the Siskiyou National Forest. The family transferred to Susanville, CA where he spent the next 20 years heading up timber sales for the Lassen National Forest. However, his greatest joy was in fighting fires. He said the best job was running a group of caterpillar tractors cutting fire lines. All we kids knew was that he brought home a lot of candy from his time working on the fires.
Both before retirement and especially afterwards John was very active in the community. He belonged to eleven organizations and at one point he was president of nine, treasurer of the tenth and just a member of the eleventh. He was especially proud of his service with the Knights of Colombus, as an elected member of the Richmond Elementary School Board, and the Susan River Rural Fire Board where he was instrumental in getting two fire stations built on Richmond Road and in Johnstonville. He may have been best known in the community for playing Santa at Richmond Elementary School and his annual Christmas light display, which was a highlight for many people every Christmas. He knew how to keep the season!
As John aged, he was afflicted with dementia, a horrible disease that slowly robs a person of their memories of life and family. The good part was that John always kept a happy demeanor despite what was happening to him. On July 9, 2024, having just received the rite of Anointing of the Sick by the local priest he passed away.
John is survived by two older sisters, Sylvia and Romayne, son John III (Darlene), daughter Julie Cooper (John), grandsons John IV (Alissa), Matthew, Joseph, Michael, and two great-granddaughters, Mae, and Nora.
Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, August 6 at 9 am at Sacred Heart Church in Susanville. The family requests that any gifts be in the form of a check made out to the Knights of Columbus with the words “Scholarship Fund” on the memo line and sent to: GK Richard Roman, 705-490 Travis Lane, Susanville, CA 96130.
