Obituary of Thaddeus S. Bruchalski

Thaddeus Stanley Bruchalski, "Ted" "Tadj" "The/ Mr. Bruch"; b. 10/28/1923 - d. 10/02/2015 A member of the greatest generation, Ted joined his wife of 56 years Veronica (d. 2002), peacefully dying at his home in Oak Hill, Virginia on October 2, 2015, almost 92 years of age.  He lived there with Veronica since 1991 with his son John and John's wife, Carolyn his primary caregiver.  He is survived by them and their two children JohnPaul of Houston, and Joseph as well as Ted's other sons and their families who live in Bergen County New Jersey; Paul and Laura and their children Jenna and Matthew of Mahwah, New Jersey and Tom, Lisa and their children Blake and Bridget of Allendale, New Jersey.  He was also cared for by Felicia Akunanyi for the last 3 years and she is now the official "sister we never had."   The oldest of five boys growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Ted was born on October 28, 1923.  He attended the Salesian Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey New Jersey graduating in 1942 and returning in 1959 to teach civics, Latin and religion until 1992. He loved St. John Bosco for his gentle educational style, and Ted truly believed he was called to teach boys there.  How he loved his students.  A good teacher teaches, a great teacher influences, the best teacher inspires, he would say. We had to share our Dad with many others, but it was a pleasure. Ted served in the Army Air Corp from 1942 through 1945 in the Aleutian Islands flying bombing missions over the islands of Japan.  He attended Saint Mary's Seminary and Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and Georgetown in Washington DC, before moving to New Jersey to teach and play the organ for his uncle, Father Haluch at Immaculate Heart Parish in Mahwah.  There, in his choir, he met the love of his life Veronica and they married in 1959.  John, Paul and Tom were all born in Northern New Jersey and attended the same beloved High School where Matt his grandchild is now a senior.  Four generations of family have attended that prep school. Tadj loved his wife and his family, his Catholic Church, his "Madonna", his Baltimore Orioles, his "Ronald Reagan", his Don Bosco Prep and his students, and his Maryland crab cakes.  He would take the last two weeks of the summer just before Labor Day and we would drive to New England, Florida or Baltimore. Politically conservative, he wrote many articles on anti-communism and conservativism, and the glories of our American constitution.  He knew Bill Buckley, and Phyllis Scafley. Above his classroom blackboard was the quote by Daniel Webster, "What makes men good Christians makes them good citizens."  Talk about religious freedom…  Tadj worked at the alumni office of his Don Bosco Prep and wrote many articles for the local newspapers about the school, and editorials regarding the current cultural harbingers of decline.  For his efforts, Dad received the Valley Forge Medal of Freedom in 1969.  His life was fruitful, influencing thousands of young men to serve their community, their nation, their family and their faith.  He will be missed.  But not really for the above, even though important… HOMELIFE 1960 through 2015 · Caring for Mom every day during her stroke and slide into Eternity, making her favorite meals and helping her get from the bed to the chair, and being with her when she was bed bound · Making his boys warm milk in a dark kitchen · Making sure we said a decade of the rosary for the conversion of Russia AND finished in time to watch Little Rascals before school · "Cambodian" breakfasts… cream of rice, cream of wheat, grits, and farina… daily… for weeks on end · The Tadj Summer Uniform: short sleeve shirt, Bermuda shorts, knee high black socks and Air Force dress black shoes - worn at the same time · Polishing our shoes every Sunday morning · "Rubber games" in pool and bowling with his boys · Having us breath noxious fumes  using the MIMEOGRAPH machine at Don Bosco "running off" tests in that liquid pale purple smelly stuff · Teaching all of us to drive the stick shift on his Volkswagen Beatle, especially to home from Yankee games · Playing Christmas carols for our friends and family at Christmas parties · Yelling at the TV during the evening news… · Staying up late on election nights · Watching the moon landing with him LIVE.  He got us up to see the event. · Driving through snow banks with him to get to or come home from school,… in a Volkswagon · Before pitching in the rival Bergen Catholic baseball game telling me, "Rain down hell on the bastards." · Driving into the drive way as I practiced foul shots, notifying me it was "Black Monday" - the day when our country legalized abortion · Taking Veronica on a walk along Lake Como for their anniversary · Sneaking out to see the sight of the Budapest anti-communist riots in 1972 and being tailed and stopped by their KGB and stealing a communist lapel pin out of a bus window from a Russian guard · "You know what this meal could have used…. creamed onions!" and Mom would run out crying · Snapping his fingers after bowling a strike · Teaching us to throw and catch a baseball · How he loved Veronica's meat loaf, and Swedish meatballs · Having a Light Beer after cutting the grass · Watching him home school JP and Joe, with memorable writing drills for cursive penmanship · Teaching JP how to drive during Emmetsburg and 5-Guys runs, and watching Tadj drive through a few red lights in his later years owning a driver's license ·  Naming our New Jersey home "Hoya Acres" and his Virginia home "Cor Unum" · He taught us the "Salve Regina" and we sang that song as our family night prayer for over two decades at Cor Unum · How he loved Carolyn's spaghetti and lamb · During a summer vacation, he played the piano at a Catholic Church in Stowe, Vermont and when a woman in the audience saw his virtuosity, she came and sang accompanying him - it was the real Maria von Trapp of Sound of Music fame, better than Julie Andrews. · "No - no"…. "well maybe" · He loved our prayer group here in Northern Virginia · Mentholatum rubs on the chest and nostrils when we were sick with anything… "sweat it out" · How he cried when  the Orioles lost to the Mets in 1969 and Pirates in 1971 but the joy and smiles of "Cheeks" in 1966, 1970, and 1983 when we were World Champions · From Martis Place to our home on Reid Court, he would let us stand as 5-7yo, all three of his sons on the running boards of his Beetle, with maybe a cousin or two · He would let us stuff a cousin in the dead space in the back of the Beetle. · We actually prayed for the conversion of Russia every day · Tadj loved the Eucharist, and the Rosary · Late night conversations about politics and culture with "The Colonel" · Thanksgivings at the "Homestead" in Mount Vernon, Virginia · He teased that we were honorary Irish, "O'Bruchalski", we dropped the "O" at Ellis Island · Listening from our down feather U shaped bunkbeds, to Dad playing the piano accompanied by the owner of a B&B playing the violin, smelling a fireplace lit hearth over a snowed-in Vermont Autumn night · Goofus and Gallant stories… · He said he dreamed in Polish? · Hearing Mom and he speak Polish to NOT let us in on a secret conversation · Teaching us enough Polish to say our prayers… DON BOSCO and IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY 1938-1942; and 1958 through 1991 · Announcing Don Bosco Prep football games on fall and winter weekends long BEFORE they were nationally ranked, "And the football said to the shoe, I get a big kick outta you." · Crying when he visited the home of Saint John Bosco, and the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians in Turin Italy · Not leaving Don Bosco Prep when offered more money elsewhere… he was called by Jesus and Don Bosco to teach "his" boys · Playing thousands of masses Saturday and Sunday at our Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, and helping his set out the hymnals and flipping pages for him · Getting us up to serve as altar boys in the dark and frigid cold of winter the 6:30am and 7:00am masses, and then treating us to a warm, fresh roll at Janek's meat market on the way to school · Helping him correct his final exams and tests · Helping him prepare the music for the special feast days · Having him as a teacher and taking the tests that we corrected years before. · Waking us up to serve mass or get to school, "Rise and shine." · Standing on the sidelines when we played baseball and football  for Don Bosco Prep · The preverbal "red ink blotch" about 7 inches wide in his front pocket from school · Coming home from work at 11:30PM after teaching all day till 3pm then working in the alumni office till 5pm then working at Western Union as a security guard till midnight · Walking along the strip in Miami Beach and hearing, "Hey Mr. Bruch" · His love of Latin as the foundation for all knowledge · He remembered details of ALL of his Don Bosco Prep students, almost better than those of his children · The "special handshake" · Those poems, "Cassius wasn't cautious…" · "I failed his history class, but he was the best teacher I had at Don Bosco" · "Working hard or hardly working." · Tadj is goofing me, "I have been running crazy at work." · Being a student at Don Bosco for the 25th anniversary of the high school, teaching at the Prep for the 50th and 75th anniversary and being in eternity praying for all of us at the 100th anniversary of his beloved Don Bosco Prep · Composing hymns to the Blessed Mother and Sacred Heart in Polish style BALTIMORE 1923-1958; 1959- 1991. · Blowing up a school boiler in Baltimore as a wayward youth, with Barth and Binneger · Having a church choir at the age of 10 in Wagner's Point, singing in three voices · Remembering the "whispers" of Chuck Thompson and WBAL Oriole baseball from under his pillow and sleeping head · The radio was always on in the background at home · "Who few da mayta?" · Trips to Baltimore  from  NJ to visit his family down 95 eating at the Dog House "over the bridge" · His love of his cousins and nieces and nephews,…  close family, especially eating a bushel of crabs · "Not sleeping" with him in a second floor bedroom in Wagner's Point over their store with the windows open and listening to the sounds of a city with the suburban ears of a 7 year old · He taught catechism to his friends when he was a youth… like a young Don Bosco · Rescuing his Mom and Dad from a burning home · Driving backwards in Baltimore as a younger man, with the help of Wally his brother · Sending reel to reel tapes of us saying prayers to his brother Caz serving in Vietnam for the second or third time. · Row houses and Ritchie Highway and Gunning's Tavern in Baltimore · Visiting family at St. Agnes Hospital · Many holidays with the Baltimore cousins and family · "OK boys, who threw the rock?" · Eating breakfast of scrambles and burnt bacon in the side kitchen at Wagner's Point · Tadj holding his father at his father's death · Being with him at Memorial Stadium and at Camden Yards watching the Birds ARMY-AIRCORP 1942-1945 · Playing the organ at the base chapel for masses on Adak and Shemya, Aleutian Islands of Alaska · Carrying a battery in the bitter cold up a hill to allow the planes to track were to land… freezing fingers · Holding the "Norden Bomb Sight" before and after missions from the Aleutians to Japan · 33 straight months serving his country in World War II - just signed up through his Mom's tears · "Smoke em if you got em." · Always reminding us how he lost to Joe Lewis the boxer in pool in the Aleutian islands · His boxing nickname was "Kid Candle… one punch and he is out!" We are grateful to have been sons and students and family of Ted Bruchalski.  Speezg bogum Tadju.