George Leoniak

Ophthalmic dispenser, Polish community leader

Born Jan. 21, 1919, Jersey City (NJ), U.S.; son of Aleksander and Jozefa (Lukasiuk); married Theodosia (Patras); child: Thaddeus.

Education: New York School of Optics.

Career: owner, Optics Laboratory, 1949 -.

Member of: co-founder, Polish Children's Heartline; co-founder, president, Jersey Shore Polish American Association; 3 term president, Polish Cultural Foundation, Clark (NJ); Optical Laboratories Association; New Jersey Association of Dispensing Opticians; Polish American Congress (P.A.C.); Kosciuszko Foundation; General Pulaski Parade Committee; American Legion; State Council of American Polonians; Polish American Club of Toms River (NJ).

Honors: Grand Marshal, Pulaski Parade, 1991; Citation of Merit, Polish American Congress (P.A.C.) Charitable Foundation; Gold Cross of Merit, Polish Government in Exile, London (United Kingdom).

Served with: U.S. Army, 3rd Army, commander of Prisoner of War (POW) camp for Germans, sergeant, 1944-46.

Affiliation: Catholic.

Languages: English, Polish.

Hobbies: photography, water sports.

Office: Square Optics Lab, 909 Cedarbridge Ave., Brick, NJ 08723.

From: "Who's Who in Polish America" 1st Edition 1996-1997, Boleslaw Wierzbianski editor; Bicentennial Publishing Corporation,
New York, NY, 1996