Stanley William Gorcik

Stanley was born on December 8, 1938, to parents Henry and Genevieve (nee Kopczyk) Gorajczyk. As an only child born into difficult family and financial circumstances, he grew up in the Uptown and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods of Chicago, as well as spending several of his formative years in the Pacific Northwest living in Bremerton and Aloha, Washington where his father worked for a time as a lumberjack. A graduate of Senn H.S. (class of ’56) in Chicago, Stanley was a lifelong lover of learning and went on to earn three degrees including a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, a M.S. in Computer Science, as well as an MBA. In his retirement, he continued his lifelong pursuit of education as a longtime member of Roosevelt University’s ICL program.

During his teenage years in the 1950s, he discovered the world of competitive weightlifting and went on to become a state record holder in his weight class as well as a nationally ranked competitor. He competed at amateur meets throughout the Midwest up through the mid 1970’s and continued his advocacy for physical fitness throughout his life, exercising regularly right up until a week before his passing.

As a bright and talented young engineer, Stanley began his career at Link-Belt, later joining Motorola in the late 1960’s where he spent 35 years working first in the Antenna Lab, then as a manager in the CAD/CAM field and later as a departmental leader in the cellular division. Stanley holds several patents from his work at Motorola including a patent on the CB radio and antenna design commonly used in police cruisers throughout the United States. An early user and proponent of both mainframe and microcomputers, Stanley was fluent in many early computer programming languages such as Fortran, COBOL and Pascal, and in the 1980’s and 1990’s was a key leader in Motorola’s development of cellular phone technology.

In his retirement, he transitioned into his life as a widower after the tragic passing of his beloved wife, Lillian, at the early age of 56. An eternal optimist and lover of both learning and the natural world, Stanley made the most of his golden years despite the loss of his wife. He traveled the world, visiting over 100 countries and stepping foot on every continent, became a doting grandfather to Julia and Gavin as well as a friend and mentor to his sons, and lived every day of his life to the fullest.

Stanley is survived by his loving sons, Christopher (Gosia) Gorcik and Robert (fiancé Sharon Kasper) Gorcik, and his grandchildren, Julia and Gavin.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Lillian Gorcik, his ‘Sunshine’.

Visitation will be Tuesday, January 7, 2025, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 7:30 p.m. all at Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights.

Funeral and Burial will be Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 10 a.m. at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery, 1185 W Algonquin Road, Palatine.