Joseph Stanley Wardzala
Teacher, Polish community leader
Born Oct. 11, 1923, Smigno, Poland; came to U.S., 1950; son of Stanislaw and Maria (Kocol); married Dorothy (Gutrick); children: Joseph, John.
Career: Labor Camp (Germany), 1941-45; Polish public school teacher, Polish and international boy scouts instructor, DP Camp (Germany), 1945-50; factory worker, Derby (CT), 1951-89; promotor, Polish and Polish - American history and culture, 1966 -; Retired.
Author: organizer, T. Kosciuszko Room, G. David Humphrey Museum, Ansonia (CT), 1980; editor, Chronicle Outline, Ansonia, 1980-90; donor, Nazi labor camp documents to U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Member of, i.a.: Boy Scouts of America; organizer, T. Kosciuszko Historical Society (CT); Polish American Congress (P.A.C.); Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (P.I.A.S.A.); Polish National Alliance (P.N.A.); Polish Falcons of America; Kosciuszko Foundation; Pilsudski Institute of America; Polish Heritage Society; American Council of Polish Culture (A.C.P.C.); Polish Roman Catholic Union of America; Polish Cultural Events Committee, Polish Club - Sacred Heart, Fairfield University (CT); Polish Scouting (CT); Polish Museum of America; Derby Historical Society; Derby Senior Citizen.
Honors: Derby 300th Anniversary Award, 1975; Bronze Pelican award, Catholic Youth-Boy Scouts of America, 1978; Order of Merit of Polish Culture, Polish Ministry of Culture & Art, 1992; Bronze Medal, Polish Falcon Nest 208, and Polonia Service award, Polish American Congress (P.A.C.), Connecticut District, 1994; Chivalry Cross of the Order of Merit, Polish Government, 1994.
Affiliation: Democrat. Roman Catholic.
Languages: Polish, English, German.
Hobbies: collecting materials on Polish history, culture and on Poles in America, Polish heritage.
Home: 10 Kindle Lane, Derby, CT 06418.
From: "Who's Who in Polish America" 1st Edition 1996-1997, Boleslaw Wierzbianski editor; Bicentennial Publishing Corporation, New York, NY, 1996.