Anderson Funeral Home
Homeserving families for over 60 years
312 South Stone St.
Augusta, WI 54722
715-286-2222
Joseph Szpak
Jozef Szpak, one of five sons of Anna (Kue) and Jozef Szpak was born on April 29, 1922 to in Oleszenica, Poland.
When the German army invaded Poland in 1941, Joe’s family took refuge in a small country church. That same day German troops surrounded the church and every man between the ages of 16 and 60 were marched onto trucks. That was the last day Joe saw or had any further contact with his family.
After a period in a German prison camp, he was sent to work as a laborer on a German farm. It was 1945, when a handful of fleeing German soldiers hurried past the farm and shouted that the Americans were coming and shortly thereafter the English came through. Joe ended W.W. 2 in an English Displaced Persons Camp.
Joe was ordered to the American zone and at Bamberg he was placed under American orders as a member of a detachment of Polish displaced persons. Things changed quickly for Joe during the month of March in 1949. On March 11th, he was sent to Bremerhaven, Germany’s port on the North Sea, on March 20th, he was sailing beneath the Statue of Liberty in New York’s harbor and on March 23rd, he arrived in Humbird, WI, to work as a hired man on the dairy farm of Bernard and Anne Scheffer. Joe lived and worked with the Scheffer family until he became acquainted with neighbor Rosa Bergman, after that he worked for her. Eventually Joe became the owner of that small farm and lived there for several years. Due to failing health he entered the Family Heritage Nursing Home in Black River Falls in 2008, where he resided until his death on Oct. 20, 2013.
Joe’s family of friends would like to express great appreciation and gratitude to the staff at the Family Heritage Nursing Home who became a special part of Joe’s life. He made many friends there and always spoke highly of the staff. Joe will be greatly missed by everyone whose life he touched. He was an inspiration to us all.
Funeral services will be held Wed. Oct. 23, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church-Fairview, rural Fairchild. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call 1 hour prior to services Wednesday at the church. The family is assisted by the Anderson Funeral Home in Augusta.
