Alex Kononchuk

Alex Kononchuk, 69, passed away peacefully on August 28, 2025, in Vista, CA, shortly after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. In his final weeks, he was surrounded by his daughter Katherine, his son Michael, his significant other, Nancy, as well as his mother and siblings.

Alex was born on April 29th, 1956, to Alex and Claire Kononchuk in Elizabeth, NJ. He was the second of four siblings: older brother Tommy, younger brother Karl, and younger sister Judy. As a child, he had a voracious appetite for learning. He developed an early love of reading, a passion for history and politics, and was editor of his high school newspaper. As a teen, he enjoyed playing basketball with his father and his brother Karl. His father also enjoyed watching various sports in the family home; that exposure led to Alex becoming a lifelong fan of the New York Giants. While he was in High school, the family moved from upstate New York to South Carolina, where he graduated from East Side High School in Greenville. He then attended and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Furman University.

In 1977, he married Penelope (Penny) Rollinson. A couple of years later, they moved to California so that Alex could work in his father’s vitamin manufacturing plant. Five years after they married, Alex and Penny welcomed their first child, daughter Katherine, and four years later, they had their second child, son Michael. Although they split up, they continued to work together in raising their kids and were good parents. Both of his children remember their Dad for encouraging them to perform at their best in school, his passion for cooking, which filled the house with delectable aromas almost every Sunday, and his enthusiasm for film and TV classics that often played in the background of family meals. His spaghetti and carnitas were two of his many delicious recipes.

Alex was partnered with Nancy Rothrock for 30 years. They met at a function for single parents with children. They had the opportunity to build many memories together, including three trips to Germany. He loved German cuisine, beer, and culture. It is comforting to know he lived a full life.

Alex will be and has been missed. Alex had the time before he passed to tell his children that he loved them and was extremely proud of them and the adults they had grown to be. Having a reserved nature, Alex did not often state his feelings out loud. However, he demonstrated his love in numerous other ways. Such as giving advice or insights to his children that reflected his understanding of their unique personalities, his sporadic gifts that let us know he was aware of our interests and needs, and his dedication to fulfilling his duties as a father by making sure we had everything we needed growing up.

Lastly, we will always remember Alex for being an intellectual man. In addition to history and politics, he appreciated the arts, including literature, paintings, antique beer steins, and music. He had an extensive collection of books comprised of biographies, history, crime mysteries, and literature. He especially loved short stories and novels written by Ernest Hemingway. A painting he had in his room and often reflected upon was ‘Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog’ by German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich. Alex had a wonderful voice; we have many memories of him singing along to Frank Sinatra, the Doors, and George Strait without missing a note. Just a couple of months before his passing, Alex and his daughter had a conversation about music. He declared that the greatest song ever written was Pancho and Lefty, recorded by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. We will leave off with this song, with

Alex singing along…

Livin’ on the road, my friend

Was gonna keep you free and clean

And now you wear your skin like iron

And your breath is hard as kerosene

Weren’t you mama’s only boy?

Her favorite one it seems

She began to cry when you said goodbye

Sank to your dreams

Pancho was a bandit, boys

His horse was fast as polished steel

He wore his gun outside his pants

For all the honest world to feel

Pancho met his match, you know

On the deserts down in Mexico

Nobody heard his dyin’ words

Oh, but that’s the way it goes

All the Federales say

They could have had him in any day

They only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

Lefty, He can’t sing the blues

All night long like he used to

The dust that Pancho bit down South

Ended up in Lefty’s mouth

The day they lay poor Pancho low

Lefty split for Ohio

Where he got the bread to go

There ain’t nobody knows

All the Federales say

We could have had him any day

We only let him slip away

Out of kindness, I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell

And Lefty’s livin’ in cheap hotels

The desert’s quiet, Cleveland’s cold

And so the story ends, we’re told

Pancho needs your prayers, it’s true

Save a few for Lefty, too

He only did what he had to do

And now he’s growin’ old

All the Federales say

We could have had him any day

They only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose

A few gray Federales say

Could have had him any day

We only let him go so long

Out of kindness, I suppose