Introduction
John P. Gryckiewicz — Camden Fire Department
JOHN PAUL GRYCKIEWICZ was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on February 17, 1918.
John P. Gryckiewicz was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on November 15, 1940 and reported for duty at the Fire Training School on November 16. He was subsequently assigned to Engine Company 2 on December 9, 1940. After Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 John P. Gryckiewicz enlisted in the United States Navy.
On August 1, 1942, at Holy Name Catholic Church in North Camden, John Gryckiewicz married. He and his bride Mary were blessed with over 60 years together as well as numerous children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They made their home at 810 North Front Street in North Camden.
John P. Gryckiewicz served his country from 1942 through 1945, leaving the service with the rank of Chief Machinist Mate. Much of his duty was aboard the battleship USS South Dakota, which saw action in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operations.
John P. Gryckiewicz returned to duty in 1945 with Engine Company 2. The 1947 Camden City Directory shows him and his wife Mary living at 934 North 19th Street in Cramer Hill, where they stayed through at least the fall of 1956. On June 16, 1951 he was promoted to Captain and assigned to Engine Company 6 at Front and Linden Streets.
The Gryckiewicz family, which in time grew to six children, moved to 503 North 36th Street in East Camden by October of 1959. John P. and Mary Gryckiewicz were still living at that address as late as 1977. Son John T. Gryckiewicz followed his father into the Fire Department in 1968.
After serving for 40 years with the Fire Department John P. Gryckiewicz retired in March of 1980. He and his wife Mary moved to New Port Richey, Florida in 1983. Mrs. Gryckiewicz passed away in November of 2005. John Paul Gryckiewicz joined her in June of the following year. They were survived by their six children, John, Michael, Mary, Kathleen, JoAnn, and Theresa, as well as six grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Kobus Names 3 Cops, 4 Firemen
Camden Courier-Post —
Son of Former Fire Captain Among Men Appointed to Police Force
Appointment for three policemen and four firemen, all of whom will report for duty today, was announced yesterday by Commissioner Mary W. Kobus, director of public safety.
The new policemen will be assigned to duty in company with older officers to gain experience. The new firefighters will be trained at the police fire school.
Edward D. Tatem, of 565 Mt. Vernon street, one of the new patrolman, is a son of former Fire Captain William Tatem. Tatem is a graduate of Camden High School. Roland E. Comerford, of 2931 Cramer street, who also was appointed to the police force, is a son of Fireman William Comerford, chauffeur for Battalion Fire Chief Charles Erickson. Young Comerford is a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School.
The third new policeman is Joseph Hooven, of 918 North Nineteenth street. He is a Camden High graduate and also studied two years at Villanova College.
Those appointed firemen are Phillip H. Farrow, of 529 Newton avenue; John Gryckiewicz, of 810 North Front street, Thomas Winstanley, of 329 Bailey street, and Anthony Bretschneider, of 1621 Louis street.
Farrow and Gryckiewicz graduated from Woodrow Wilson and Gryckiewicz served a four year enlistment in the Navy. Bretschneider graduated from a Philadelphia high school and attended evening classes at Woodrow Wilson.
All appointments were made from a State Civil Service Commission list of eligibles. Commissioner Kobus has adopted a policy of appointing high school graduates to both the police and fire departments.
Mrs. Kobus to Ask More Cops, Firemen for City Next Year
Camden Courier-Post —
New Appointment Return Forces to 1938 Status; Defense Increases Need
Appointment of 22 patrolmen and 10 firemen by City Commissioner Mary W. Kobus during the past three months has brought the personnel of the public safety department to figures comparable to 1938.
That announcement was made yesterday by Commissioner Kobus, who expressed the hope the city could afford additional members of both departments in the near future “as a safety measure and because of the great national, State and local defense programs, in which we must participate.”
Appointments Listed
The new policemen appointed by Commissioner Kobus were:
Joseph Caputi, 332 Mt. Vernon street; Joseph M. Carroll, 427 Lansdowne avenue; Roland Comerford, 2931 Cramer street; Vincent Conley, 423 Beideman avenue; James Eskridge, 716 North Seventh street; Joseph Hooven, 501 Beideman avenue; Julius Kaunacki, 1183 Sheridan street; William E. Kelly, 55 State street; William F. Large, 729 Mickle street; William H. Neale, 773 Line street; Francis J. Nelson, 720 Penn street; John E. Opfer, 323 North Second street; Cecil H. Picou, 1127 Cooper street; Earl Quinton, 687 Jefferson avenue; Edw. W. Tatem, 565 Mt. Vernon street; Harry Tracy, 2003 Federal street; Harold I. Vecander, 1039 North Twenty-sixth street; John H. Watkins, 2902 Constitution road; Edward Watson, 1048 Haddon avenue; Donald R. Watson, 841 Lois avenue; George T. Weber, 1231 North Thirtieth street; Stanley Zuckowicz, 1157 Thurman street.
The new appointees to the fire department are:
Philip H. Farrow, 529 Newton avenue; Anthony W. Bretschneider, 1621 Louis street; John Gryckiewicz, 810 North Front street; Thomas Winstanley, 329 Bailey street; William Palese, 900 South Fourth street; Anthony Dzinski, 1230 Atlantic avenue; Joseph R. Guarino, 25 Morse street; Martin B. Nelson, 561 Spruce street; William Cleary, 614 Federal street; and Otto Kaiser, 904 North Twenty-sixth street.
TUG BLAST AVERTED BY ROOKIE FIREMAN
Camden Courier-Post —
The heroic efforts of one of Camden's newly appointed firemen prevented the explosion of a 50-gallon drum of gasoline stored on the tug Pacific, which caught fire yesterday in the docks of the American Dredging Company.
Fire broke out in the hold of the boat from sparks of an acetylene torch used by workmen rebuilding the 65-foot boat, owned by the Graham Oil Transportation Company of Philadelphia.
John Gryckiewicz, 22, of 810 North Front street, who was appointed to the fire department on Nov. 16 and completed his training Dec. 7, jumped on the boat and pulled a flaming rope from around the gasoline-filled drum. Gryckiewicz is stationed at Engine Company No. 2, Fifth and Arch streets.
Four workmen were on the boat when the fire broke out. Fire Chief John H. Lennox estimated the damage at approximately $450.
The Pacific in later years
Drowning Spurs Move for Fence Along Riverfront
Camden Courier-Post —
City officials will be asked to erect a fence along Delaware river between Seventh and Eighth streets in an effort to prevent children from playing near the water.
That was announced today by a North Camden resident as the result of the drowning Saturday of Robert Allebach, 10, of 533 Bailey street, who fell from a raft while playing with other children.
The boy’s father, George Allebach, 50, a former employe of the New York Shipbuilding Corp., has been confined to his home in a wheelchair since he suffered a stroke. The child’s mother, Alice, is recovering at home from a lengthy illness.
Neighborhood Action Urged
Mrs. Ruth Stuhl, 37, of 523 Bailey street, mother of seven children, six of whom are at home, said that after Robert’s funeral she will contact parents and all neighbors in the area to start action in asking the city to build a fence. One of Mrs. Stuhl’s children was playing with Robert before the accident.
Mrs. Stuhl’s husband is William J. Stuhl, 47, blind news dealer at the RCA plant between Market and Front streets. She said they will ask the Pyne Poynt Athletic Association to take some action to promote greater safety for the children.
“I would like to see a fence along the river,” Mrs. Stuhl said. “Even if we have to contribute to pay a guard to keep the children from going near the water would be one answer.
“The boys of the neighborhood complain the park guards chase them from the grass spots when they play in Pyne Poynt Park,” Mrs. Stuhl continued, “when they go to the lower level they are chased by the bigger boys and that’s when they go to the inlet and across to the peninsula.”
The drowning victim, a fifth-grade pupil at Read school, Fifth and York streets, was playing with four boys along the banks of the inlet of the river, adjoining Pyne Poynt park.
Rescue Try Fails
With him were Charles Stamp, 11, of 529 Bailey street; Timothy Brady, 9, of 530 Bailey street; William Reese, 11, of 924 North Fifth street, and Bobby Stuhl.
On a “dare” from the others, Robert set out across the inlet on a raft, about the size of a door, for a barge moored on the other side, 25 feet away. The raft tilted and Robert, unable to swim, was thrown into the water.
The Stamp boy tried to save him by holding out a long pole, which the drowning boy grasped, but lost his grip and went down.
The other boys ran across lots to Seventh and Erie strets [sic] to notify a passerby who summoned police. No. 1 Rescue Squad from fire headquarters, Fifth and Arch streets, responded, and Firemen Arthur Batten and John Gryckiewicz, in a rescue boat, recovered the body in 10 mintes [sic] of grappling.
Funeral Wednesday
Squad members immediately applied artificial respiration and Dr. J. C. Lippincott, an interne at Cooper hospital, administered stimulants, but without success. The boy was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Besides his parents, he is survived by two brothers, Kenneth, 3, and George, 19, and two sisters, Shirley, 15, and Delores, 18.
Services will be held in the home Wednesday at 2 p. m., where friends may call Tuesday night. Burial will be in Bethel Memorial Park, Pennsauken. The funeral will be under direction of Robert J. Blake.
Pallbearers will include his friends, William Reese, Timothy Brady, Charles Stamp and George Stuhl. Two young cousins also will serve, the mother said.
Fire Captain in Pearl St. Blaze
Camden Courier-Post —
One man was rescued and 14 persons were routed early Sunday when fire damaged three two-story houses in the 200 block of Pearl st., North Camden.
Anthony Burzynski, 31, of 218 Pearl st., rescued by Fire Capt. John Gryckiewicz, 35, of 934 N. 19th st., after the former returned to the house in the mistaken belief his son was trapped inside, was treated at Cooper Hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts of the right hand and right foot. Hospital attendants administered oxygen to Burzynski for two hours.
District Chief Howard Gick said the blaze, cause of which was undetermined, started in the kitchen of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Juckett, 218 Pearl st., where Burzynski, a relative, and six others were asleep. All were forced to leave the house in their night clothing.
Neighbors Forced to Flee
When the blaze spread to adjoining properties, five persons were forced from 220 Pearl st. and a woman was routed at 216 Pearl.
The fire was discovered about 7.30 a. m. when Mrs. Elizabeth Juckett, 49, sleeping on a sofa, was awakened by smoke pouring into the living room at 218 Pearl. Her screams roused her husband, 64, and the others in upstairs bedrooms and Juckett ran barefoot to an alarm box at 3rd and Pearl sts.
Also routed from the Juckett house were their daughters, Mary, 22; Mrs. Anna Mae Ganyor, 25, and Mrs. Elizabeth Perry, 20; Mrs. Perry's daughter, Elizabeth, 7 months; Burzynski and his wife, Catherine, 27, another daughter of the Jucketts, and the Burzynski's son, Lawrence, 4.
Burzynski was overcome when he ran inside and up to the front bedroom on the second floor, thinking his son had been left behind. He collapsed on the window sill after breaking the pane.
Gryckiewicz, who arrived with Engine Co. 6, saw the inert figure and raised a ladder. Gryckiewicz ran up the ladder and lifted Burzynski, a Yellow Cab Co. driver, through the window.
50 Birds Saved
At 220 Pearl st., William E. Schloendorn, 31; his wife, Shirley, 27; their children, Barbara, 8, and William, 6, and Schloendorn's brother, Francis, 23, were able to don clothing before being forced out by smoke.
Schloendorn and his brother, both brakemen for the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines, made several trips through the smoke to rescue from a rear shed about 50 canaries and parakeets, which William raises. The birds were in 17 cages.
Miss Edith Johnson, home alone at 216, ran out in her night clothing with her pet cocker spaniel, Chips, and went to a nearby house to telephone her father, William B. Johnson, custodian at Cassady School, who then returned home.
Gick said the fire was confined to the rear sections of the three homes by members of Engine Companies 2 and 6 and Truck Co. 1. Those living at the Juckett home were given temporary shelter by friends and relatives.
MS Victim: Fireman Rescues Woman
Camden Courier-Post —
A 40-year-old victim of multiple sclerosis trapped by flames was rescued last night from her second floor North Camden apartment by a fire captain after two attempts by others failed.
The woman, Mrs. Emily Burns of 602 N. 2nd st., was admitted to Cooper Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation after being carried to the street by Fire Capt. John Gryckiewicz of Engine Co. 6.
John J. Klemowicz, 42, who occupies the first floor, and Daniel H. Johnson, 16, of 530 N. Front st., twice tried to reach the woman, but were frustrated by heavy smoke.
Capt. Gryckiewicz said he ran upstairs to get Mrs. Burns when someone told him a woman was trapped on the second floor.
The captain said Mrs. Burns was lying on the floor near the steps. A little dog was by her side. The dog would not move until Mrs. Burns was taken from the building, the captain said.
Mrs. Burns was taken to the hospital by police. She was placed in the intensive care unit of the hospital.
Acting First District Chief James Asher said the fire of undetermined origin is under investigation. It severely damaged the second floor.
Responding to the alarm were Engine Cos. 2 and 6, Ladder and Rescue Squad 1.
Camden Fireman Cited by Buffs
Camden Courier-Post —
Honors came last night, for the second time this year, to a Camden firefighter who risked his life to rescue an invalid from a burning bedroom.
The Delaware Valley Fire Buffs Association awarded a special citation and a $25 savings bond to Capt. John Gryckiewicz of Engine Company 6. The presentation was made by Howard Doerschner, chief of Camden city auxiliary firemen.
Third Attempt
On Feb. 7, Gryckiewicz rescued Mrs. Emily Burns, 40, from the second floor bedroom of her home at 602 N. 2nd Street. Mrs. Burns, a multiple sclerosis victim, managed to reach the door of her room before she collapsed.
In making the presentation, Doerschner said Gryckiewicz entered the burning building after two rescue attempts by civilians failed.
Gryckiewicz received the Distinguished Service Award in February from Public Safety Director Keith Kauffman for bravery and rescue beyond the call of duty.
Chief Wilmer Porter, Haddon Heights Fire Company, and George F. Rossner, Pennsauken’s Delaware Gardens Fire Company 4, received award certificates presented by Leo Mendez, acting president of the Fire Buffs. They were cited for outstanding work in fire service and their assistance to the Fire Buffs.
Guests Listed
Guests at the organization’s seventh annual award meeting in Pennsauken’s Amity Hall were Capt. Matthew Davies, president of the Camden Fire Department Fire Officers Association; Ralph Kress, assistant chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department; D. Allen Stretch, director of public safety of Ocean City, and Chief Ferdinan Tacharino and Deputy Chief William Meenan, Ocean City Fire Department.
Councilman Mario Rodriguez was the principal speaker. Rodriguez commended the honored guests and members of the Fire Buffs for their dedication to the safety of others.
The Fire Buffs is an organization made up of active and retired fire fighters who aid firemen. They are on 24-hour call and they work without pay. Some buffs serve sandwiches to firemen, others administer artificial respiration, while still others participate in the actual firefighting.
Family of Six Escapes Fire
Camden Courier-Post —
A Camden mother and her six children escaped without injury from a two-alarm fire that destroyed the interior of their home at 832 N. 3rd St. last night, but two firemen were slightly burned while fighting the blaze.
Acting Btn. Chief John Gryckiewicz, 50, of 36th and Fairfax Streets and Hoseman Edmund Gorczynski, 36, of 272 N. 33rd St. were treated at Cooper Hospital for burns of the face and hands.
Mrs. Girlene Garrett and her children fled to homes of neighbors when the 6 p.m. fire broke out. Firemen controlled the blaze within 20 minutes.
Friends Will Honor Veteran Firefighter
Camden Courier-Post —
Capt. John P. Gryckiewicz remembers the good. Like rescuing a man from his North Camden house in a 1954 fire, and saving an invalid woman from her burning bedroom in 1966, acts of heroism that earned him commendations.
He remembers the bad. Like finding a woman and her three children dead in the aftermath of another inferno.
“You break your neck to do your best,” Gryckiewicz says. “But sometimes when you get there, they’re all dead.”
On March 1 at Kenney’s in Cherry Hill, Gryckiewicz’ friends and admirers will remember. They’ll honor him at a retirement dinner after 30 years as one of Camden’s most decorated and most respected fire captains and nearly 40 years as a member of the department.
His retirement will be Camden’s loss because Gryckiewicz is so much a part of the city he loves.
“I really like Camden,” says Gryckiewicz, who used to help neighborhood kids hone their athletic skills in the lot at Front and State. “It perturbs me the way the city went. I feel so badly to see these places vandalized. Some people don’t take pride any more. They’re given too much and don’t have to work for it. They don’t respect property.”
Born in Bridgeport, Conn., Gryckiewicz found a job with the Camden Fire Department in 1940. He spent a month at fire training school, worked at the old fire headquarters at 5th and Arch, and settled into his steady job.
Steady? Camden firemen worked 84 hours a week and received $60 paychecks every two weeks. John remembers the 24-hour work days: “Everybody had housecleaning to do, either on the apparatus, first floor or offices. We’d spend a lot of time training. There was no TV then, so we’d play cards in our leisure time. We’d eat well; an old Army cook would make sure of that.”
Gryckiewicz entered the Navy in 1941 and served as a machinist’s mate on the Camden-built U.S.S. South Dakota, which earned 13 battle stars. He also got a hit off legendary Bob Feller when John’s Dakota and Feller’s U.S.S. Alabama did battle.
Gryckiewicz returned to Camden when the war ended in 1945 and was promoted to fire captain in 1950.
“There’s so much more involved in being a fireman today,” Gryckiewicz says. “The apparatus is so much more complicated. There’s more to learn. The difference is like driving a Model T and a Lincoln Continental.
“We had mostly older men in 1940. You picked up so much from the men you worked with. I remember what John Yates taught me. He was just an ordinary fireman. But he was one of the best.
“Today, I think sometimes all of the knowledge and equipment we have can be too much. Plastics, chemicals—sometimes you’re reluctant to make a move. Knowledge is OK. But there has to be the practical side of firefighting, too.
“A young man today should have the feeling for being a fireman and the feeling for his fellow man. He shouldn’t be there just for the security; he should be dedicated. The fellow who cares will be better prepared to do the job.”
Gryckiewicz, stationed in recent years at the new fire headquarters at Third and Federal, has many memories.
He joined the department two months after the city’s most infamous fire at Hollingshead Co. But the fire he remembers most vividly was the Garden State Race Track blaze because he was working part-time at the track and was thrust into the role of coordinator.
“It was the worst I saw, and we were lucky to lose only two people,” Gryckiewicz says. “No one could believe it didn’t develop into a catastrophe.”
He remembers Garden State. He remembers the saves, the near-saves, the unfortunate misses. He remembers the camaraderie, the open-cab pumpers he drove to fires in the 1940s, fighting fires with booster lines before inch-and-a-half hoses came to the rescue.
He remembers a city that didn’t have boarded up stores from one end of Broadway to the other. He remembers when the alarm didn’t sound so often.
Gryckiewicz will have the time of his life at his retirement dinner. He is a fun-loving man who probably will lead his friends in song. But he wonders how it will feel when it is over.
“It hasn’t hit me yet—you don’t know what you’re going to do when it ends,” Gryckiewicz says. “Sometimes when I was in the Navy I thought maybe I should have stayed. But I never missed a paycheck in Camden in 40 years. I’ve loved my work.”
50th Wedding Anniversary
Saint Petersburg Times —
John and Mary Gryckiewicz of Holiday celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 1 with family members, relatives and friends at a party at the Innisbrook Country Club in Tarpon Springs hosted by their six children.
Their children are Mary Diane Lynch and her husband, Richard, of Middleburg, Conn.; Kathleen McCabe and her husband, Donald, of Woodbury Heights, N.J.; Theresa Conlon and her husband, Bernard, of Danville, Calif.; John T. and his wife, Jacquelyn, of Sewell, N.J.; and JoAnn Gryckiewicz and Michael Gryckiewicz, who live at home. They have six grandchildren.
The couple married Aug. 1, 1942, at Holy Name Catholic Church, Camden, N.J. They renewed their vows in February with Bishop John Favalora at a special Mass for anniversary celebrants at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church in St. Petersburg.
Gryckiewicz retired in March 1980 after serving 40 years with the Camden (N.J.) City Fire Department.
They moved to Florida in 1983. They are members of the Polish American Club of Holiday and the Forest Hills Civic Association. They attend St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Holiday.
Fire Department Record
Camden Fire Department service record — John P. Gryckiewicz
Obituary
Camden Courier-Post —
GRYCKIEWICZ, JOHN PAUL— Age 87, formerly of Camden, died Sunday, June 4, 2006 in New Port Richey, FL. He was born in Bridgeport, CT and moved to Florida from Camden in 1983.
John was retired as a Captain of the Camden Fire Dept. after 40 years service and was a Navy Veteran of WWII, serving on the USS South Dakota as chief machinist mate.
He is survived by sons, John T. Gryckiewicz of Deptford, NJ, Michael Gryckiewicz of Hudson, FL; daughters Mary D. Lynch of Chatham, MA, Kathleen McCabe of Woodbury Hgts., NJ, JoAnn G. Gryckiewicz of Port Richey, FL, Theresa Conlon of Ridgefield, CT; six grandchildren; five great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be held Tuesday, June 13, 2006 8:30–9:30AM at Dobie’s Funeral Home. The service will follow at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church at 10AM. Burial will be at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL.
Obituary: Mary M. Gryckiewicz
Camden Courier-Post —
GRYCKIEWICZ, MARY M.— Age 82, of New Port Richey, FL, died Monday, November 7, 2005 at Kindred Hospital, Tampa, FL. She was born in Wildwood, NJ and moved to New Port Richey from Camden, NJ in 1983. She was a homemaker and member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary, Holiday, FL.
Survivors include her husband, John; two sons, John of Deptford, NJ and Michael of Hudson, FL; four daughters: Mary Diane Lynch, Chatham, MA, Kathleen McCabe, Woodbury Heights, NJ, JoAnn Gryckiewicz, Port Richey, FL, and Theresa Conlon, Ridgefield, CT; six grandchildren and four great grandchildren. A visitation will be held Monday, November 14 from 9:30–11:00 AM with a wake service, 10 AM at Dobie’s Funeral Home, 4910 Bartelt Road, Holiday, FL 34690. A graveside service will follow at 1:00 PM at Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, FL.