Andy Jaworski

Family provider solid in his faith

— Growing up the third oldest of 10 children, Andy Jaworski learned the value of hard work in his small Polish community in Marche.

“He was seven years old behind a team of mules plowing up a garden,” said his daughter, Barbara Houser. “He worked, worked and worked to provide for his family.”

Jaworski died Saturday at Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock from surgery complications, his family said.

He was 87.

For three years, Jaworski served in the U.S. Navy as a radio operator in the Pacific during World War II.

“He was detached with the Marines when they’d invade an island,” said his son-in-law, Jeff Houser. “They were some of the first out because they had to set up communication, find the highest point on the mountain to put up antennas.”

Jaworski saw combat at places like Okinawa.

“[His] secondary job was manning the anti-aircraft guns that fired at airplanes in the sky,” Jeff Houser said. “He said he was just strapped into it for so long, he’d fall asleep.”

While Jaworski primarily shared good stories of his time in the service, like eating fresh Hawaiian pineapples and coconuts, occasionally a difficult war memory would slip out, like recalling “the stench of dead bodies on the islands,” his son-in law said.

In the late 1940s, Jaworski became a certified occupational therapist assistant at the VA hospital in North Little Rock.

“He would do more or less the arts-and-crafts type thing with the veterans there, like doing ceramics, weaving on the loom,” Barbara Houser said. “To get them thinking and moving their fingers and staying active.”

Jaworski was also able to create masterpieces of his own, like a ceramic nativity scene.

A dedicated family man, Jaworski made sure his wife did not have to work so shecould tend to their severely handicapped daughter, Patricia, who died in 1982.

“He was a jack-of-all trades, that man could do anything,” Barbara Houser said. “He raised cattle, he had bees, chickens, rabbits at one time, dogs, you name it.”

In addition to working at the hospital, Jaworski was in the Army National Guard for almost 40 years.

“I remember him sitting underneath the shade tree in the backyard up there studying on the weekends,” his daughter said. “He wanted to hit that sergeant major rank and he did.”

When Jaworski wasn’t working, he was volunteering at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in North Little Rock.

“He was the head usher there for years,” his son-in-law said. “He made sure the offering was taken up with the gifts to present to the priest. He did it every Saturday night for 20 to 30 years.”

Jaworski’s life revolved around his faith, whether he was helping cook Polish kielbasa for the church’s annual “Polish Karnawal” or attending a funeral.

“He believed in his prayers and he believed in going to Mass,” Jeff Houser said. “Anybody in the [church] community who passed away, he was going to either a vigil or funeral. He was going to show his respects.”

Meticulous and straightforward, Jaworski was outspoken, in both English and Polish.

“If he [accidentally] hit something ... he’d say something in Polish,” his daughter laughed. “That was Dad.”

About a week ago, while connected to a breathing machine in the hospital, Jaworski acknowledged his days were short, but his faith was solid.

“I said, ‘Are you saying you saw God?’ He said yes. I said, ‘Did you talk to God?’ He said yes. I got to thinking it was when he flat-lined in recovery,” Jeff Houser said. “I said, ‘So God brought you back with us?’ And he said no ... He knew in his own heart he wasn’t going to be around too long.”

Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/04/2012

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