John Richard Olejniczak, age 93, of Phoenix formerly of Harvey, IL, passed away on Tuesday, October 16, 2018 at his residence. He was born on April 15, 1925 to the late Joseph and Mary Olejniczak in Phoenix, IL. He graduated from St. Rita's Catholic High School; then he was drafted to the United States Navy proudly serving our country for four years. After returning from the South Pacific he furthered his education at Worsham Mortuary College. John served the Harvey, IL community as a Funeral Director at the Olen Mortuary until his retirement in 1990. On September 9, 1950 he married Josephine Gorski in Harvey, IL. He was a member of the Polish Legion of American Veterans USA, the Sinclair Retiree Club, Knights of Columbus - Garcia-Moreno Council, American Legion Post #0100, St. John's Holy Name Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Sun Valley Fliers Club. He enjoyed model airplane building and flying, was an avid attendee of all his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren's games and events, and thoroughly enjoyed storytelling of all his adventures. John is survived by his loving spouse of 68 years, Josephine; three children, Paula (Joseph) Olen-Mikrut, Robert (Nancy) Olen, and Richard (Cindy) Olen; eight grandchildren, Melisa (Lou) Camp, Paul (Andrea) Mikrut, William Olen, Jeffrey Mikrut, Rachel (Brian) Ference, John Olen, Joseph Olen, and Jennifer Olen; seven great grandchildren, Brendan Camp, Edward Mikrut, Caleb Camp, Meredith Mikrut, Charlotte Camp, Victoria Ference, and Violet Camp; and many loving family and friends. He was preceded in death by his two siblings, Joseph Olejniczak and Stella Zacharek. Visitation will be from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on Monday, October 22, 2018 at Shadow Mountain Mortuary, 2350 E. Greenway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85022. Funeral Mass will then be at 12:30 pm on Monday, October 22, 2018 at St. Paul Catholic Church, 330 W. Coral Gables Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85022 with the committal service to follow at 2:00 pm at Holy Redeemer Cemetery, 23015 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85022. In lieu of flowers, contributions in John’s honor for his beloved Josephine may be made to the Barrow Neurological Institute - Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center. https://www.supportbarrow.org/get-involved/donate-now/
