The LuLac Edition #1191, May 25th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: OUR BUDDY JOE THEN AND JUST A YEAR AGO AT THE WRKC FM REUNION.

JOE ANTHONY

I always knew him as Joe Anthony. Last week I got crushing news that a very good friend of mine from College passed away. When I first met Joe Andrzejewski at King’s I was 19 and he was 18. I had stayed out of school a year and was terrified about the prospect of college. Joe said, “Don’t worry, this is just like high school”. Well it wasn’t but I think we both knew that. Joe and I were classmates in the Government Program and also fellow broadcasters on WRKC FM. Joe had a program called “Wooden Music” which solely focused on acoustic aspects of rock and roll. This was 30 years before the “unplugged” phase began. Joe also worked on the Radio Home Visitor, the Mad Drummer’s Christmas Special and did jazz shows playing Les Elgart’s “Bandstand Boogie” much to the chagrin of our then station manager who said, “We don’t do TV theme songs”. Joe was ambivalent about Bob Dylan’s changeover into the electric realm. Some days he was fine with it, other days he mildly criticized Bob. But he must not have been too critical because he named his son Dylan. I saw Joe last summer at the first in a while WRKC FM reunion spearheaded by Ron Ungvarsky another classmate from those days at King’s. We chatted, relived old times and made plans to see each other again. That will not happen and it is both sobering and sad. Joe served his country well but looking at him and his demeanor you’d never know he was a Major in our military. Chest thumping was never his style. He will be missed by all that knew and loved him but I’ll go further, he will continue to be an inspiration to the myriad of lives he touched through the years. Here’s his obituary.

ANDRZEJEWSKI, JOSEPH A., Major (Retired), U.S. Army Special Forces, died unexpectedly on May 21, 2010 at the age of 54. Resident of Marlton, NJ. Husband of 24 years to Gillian. Beloved father of Dylan. Brother of Donna Brazinski. Son of the late Vincent and Phyllis Andrzejewski. He is also survived by his uncle Frank and aunt Mary Jane Forlin. In 1977 he earned his BA from Kings College. He received his MPA from Troy State University in 1988. Joseph's military career began when he completed ROTC and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. He would go on to graduate from Ranger School as well as the elite Special Forces. A few of his innumerable military accomplishments and positions held over nearly two decades of service include: Chief, Military Freefall Branch and Combat Development Officer, JFK Special Warfare Center; Commander, Special Forces Operational Detachment, Berlin, Germany; Field Office Chief, Special Projects Support Activity (SPSA) Fort Bragg, NC; R&D Officer and Section Chief, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment; and Program Manager, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Relatives and friends are invited to the viewing on Thursday May 27th from 12:00 Noon - 2:00 PM at the Bradley Funeral Home, Rt. 73 & Evesham Rd., Marlton, NJ. Funeral Service will be 2:00 PM at the funeral home on Thursday. Interment will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Joseph's memory to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) or any veteran organization of your choice.

For Joe and our youth, Joan Baez singing one of Dylan's best.

SESTAK IN TOWN

Newly crowned and minted Democratic nominee Joe Sestak came to the Wilkes Barre Area yesterday meeting the folks and ramping up his efforts for the fall. The night before on the highly rated and mostly confusing “Lost” (I was right they were in a type of purgatory and on their way to another place) Pat Toomey for Senate ads kept appearing. The ads told us what a nice guy Joe Sestak was but how he was wrong for America. Sestak was at the Atrium Restaurant and did an interview on the Sue Henry Show. Sestak’s task will be to convince the Commonwealth’s great middle thinkers that he is not some wild eyed liberal. It will be an uphill battle because the National GOP wants this seat badly. But Sestak has proven before that he can come from behind.

LULAC ON TARONE

We'll be guests on the L.A. Tarone Show on WYLN TV this week. Times are Wednesday night 9:30PM, Thursday 6PM, Saturday 12:30PM, Monday at 11:30PM and Tuesday at 7:30PM. Topic will be politics.

DALE DAVENPORT

One of Pennsylvania most unique and brilliant editorial writers lost his battle with cancer last week. Dale Davenport who was an editorial writer and columnist for the Harrisburg Patriot News passed away. He was also a frequent and insightful guest on PCN's "Journalists Roundtable".