Edward J Mahowski

Born October 10th, 1917, Edward Mahowski was the 5th child of Rose and Adolph D’Mochowski and the first son. His twin brother died during birth. His older sisters were Anne, Stella, and twins Blanche and Elizabeth. His younger siblings were Edmund “Hank”, and twins Josephine and Julie. His mother bore 3 sets of twins in all. Ed grew up in Plains, Pennsylvania with the rest of the D’Mochowski family but began using the name Mahowski at the insistence of his first grade teacher because phonetically it was more appropriate. Never wanting to rock the boat (even at that early age), Ed complied and was forever known as Edward John Mahowski.

Ed was drafted in 1940 during the first peacetime draft in United States history; ten months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was a member of the 32nd Infantry Division known as the Red Arrow, which was one of the first divisions activated for duty after the attack. He earned the rank as Corporal and was part of the American campaign against the Japanese in Buna, New Guinea.

During battle for Bruna, Ed was operating a 50 caliber machine gun during an assault when his troop was targeted by enemy aircraft and bombed. As a result of the bombing, Ed was ejected into the air and landed on his back on top of the machine gun. He lay in the New Guinea jungle for two days until rescued, and was one of two soldiers in his regiment to survive the bombing. He was hospitalized in Australia for one year before returning to the United States. He was a recipient of the Purple Heart for his injuries sustained in the attack.

Ed moved to Dearborn, Michigan after his recovery where he met a pretty girl name Bernadean “Deanie” at the local ice cream shop which was located next to the movie theater. They married in 1944 and became the proud parents of three boys; Edward 1945, Michael 1948, and Thomas 1958. Ed, Deanie and their sons lived in Dearborn, Michigan where Ed was self-employed as an appliance repairman.

In 1969, Ed, Deanie, and Tom moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Ed was a member of Blessed Sacrament Church for over 40 years, was a devout Catholic, and through his simple demonstrations of faith he served as an inspiration to others. Ed and Deanie were married 44 years until March 1988 when Deanie lost her battle with cancer.

Ed is survived by his sons Michael (West Bloomfield, Michigan) and Thomas (Seminole, Florida). His son Edward predeceased him in 2008. He is also survived by his three daughter in-laws Judy (Edward), Ruth (Michael), and Jan (Thomas) and 6 grandchildren; Mark and Matthew (Ed), Raven and Jeff (Mike), and Katie and Kelly (Tom). He will be remembered in all of our hearts forever.