Joseph Sydejko

SERVICE:

Graveside Military Service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 22 at Hope Cemetery, Chippewa Falls.

Joseph F. Sydejko, 93, formerly of Chippewa Falls, died Wednesday afternoon, May 27, 2015, at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.

Joe was born March 15, 1922, at home to Julia (Siegienski) and George Sydejko. He grew up in Chippewa Falls, where he attended Notre Dame Grade School and graduated from McDonell High School in 1939. After high school he worked at Western Union Telegraph Co. and as a bookkeeper for Northwestern State Bank, both in Chippewa Falls.

Joe was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in April, 1942. He was a member of the 457th Bombardment Group (Squadron H) as a navigator. Joe arrived in Glatton, England, in May, 1944, where he flew 29 missions. On D-Day, he was the Lead Navigator for the B17 planes that flew 500 feet above ground prior to the Invasion of Normandy. Other missions included bomb drops on the large ammunition plants located near airports and other targets to prevent enemy troop or supply advancement.

During his military career serving our Country, Joe was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. After his missions in England he was sent to Texas to serve as a trainer for new navigators heading to the Pacific. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant prior to his honorable discharge in 1945.

After leaving the Army, Joe studied aviation at the University of Minnesota. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he attended Coyne Electrical School and the American Television Institute of Technology, receiving his Bachelors of Science Degree in Engineering and Television.

In 1953 Joe began working at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, originally in the Electrical Engineering Department doing research on radar equipment, and later at the Undergraduate labs where he oversaw lab operations. His career at the Institute spanned 37 years.

Joe maintained a life-long interest in engineering. At one time he was a ham radio operator with a 2nd Class FCC radio-telephone license. He was an Associate Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

After his retirement, Joe moved back to Chippewa Falls. His many interests included tennis, swimming, gardening, and fishing. He spent much of his time at his cabin on Axehandle Lake, New Auburn. He played a mean game of UNO and loved being around family. Joe was a very private person and spoke little about his WWII experiences. Just days before his passing he was the recipient of a medal from the VFW, of which he was very proud, for being a 70-year WWII veteran in the Chippewa Falls area.

Joe is survived by his sister-in-law, Verlene Sydejko of Glendale, California, along with many nieces and nephews, and other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by: his parents, George and Julia; two sisters, Helen Sydejko (2008) and Rosemary Rosenbaum (2000); four brothers, Louis Sydejko (2006), Frank "Frankie" Sydejko (1999), Jon "Jack" Sydejko (1992), Henry Sydejko (1944); and one brother-in-law, Henry "Hank" Rosenbaum Jr. (2000).

Graveside Military Service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 22 at Hope Cemetery, Chippewa Falls.