Alexander Cieraszynski - 1917-2005
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Posted: 02/22/05 - 09:26:05 pm EST
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Alexander Cieraszynski, 88, of Ashland, Ky., formerly of Pikeville, Ky., died Monday, Feb. 21, 2005, in Oakmont Manor Nursing Home.
He was born Feb. 17, 1917, in Lubinachi, Poland (Belarus), a son of the late Theodor and Christiana Cieraszynski. He and his family immigrated to the USA in 1950, after surviving the invasion of Poland by Russia in 1939 and by Germany in 1941. He was captured by the Germans in 1941 and spent the next five years in German Concentration Camps, escaping several times to avoid the death camps. He was reunited with his family, who had escaped from Poland, in occupied West Germany in 1945.
He was so very proud to be an American. He could not wait to be naturalized at the first opportunity in 1956 so he could vote.
He was a retired farmer, spending 45 years working on a farm on Johns Creek, Ky., owned by Pikeville College. Alexander moved to Ashland in 1996 following open heart surgery.
He is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Ella Cieraszynski. He is also survived by his only sister, Maria and her husband, Chester Demko, of Michigan City, Ind., also immigrants of Poland; a son, Mike and his wife, Carol Jean, of Ashland; a son, John and his wife, Mary, of Denver; a son, Theodore and his wife, Helen, of Athens, Ohio; three grandsons, Michal, Theodore and Johnny and his wife, Stacy; two granddaughters, Julia and her husband, Mike Gardner, and Gina and her husband, Billy Thompson; four great-grandchildren, Brooks, Aaron, Danielle, and Benjamin; a niece, Helen Demko of Laponte, Ind.; a niece, Ann and her husband, Ron Fauldenaur of Michigan City; a niece, Marie and her husband, Dale Seedorf of Hobart, Ind.
Funeral services will be held at Steen Funeral Home-Marshall Steen Chapel in Ashland at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005, officiated by the Rev. Mark A. Kloha with a visitation from 1 p.m. until service time. Burial will follow in Ashland Cemetery.
Friends may make contributions to Community Hospice, 1538 Central Ave., Ashland, KY 41101. Condolences may be sent to steenfuneralhomes.com.
