Dr. Debski Debski

Batavia, Illinois,DR. TADEUSZ DEBSKI Dr. Tadeusz Debski died on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011 in Crystal Lake, Illinois, at the age of 89. Preceded in death by his wife, Maria (nee Piwowarski), his brother, Stanley, sister, Anna, in Poland, and his daughter Theresa Haas (Marcus), he was the dear father of George (Cathy) and Rita Michener (Kim), loving grandfather of Wendy Basch (Marvin), Paul Baksik (Amber), Thomas Baksik, Frederick Baksik, Corinna Baksik (Sean), Mandy Martin (Bryan), Cherilyn Reno(Jerry), and Amy Raczkowski(Andy), and proud great-grandfather of Chloe, Max, Evelyn, Emily, Logan, Colin, Natalie, Alex, Marilyn, Arwen, Matteo, Meggan and Miranda. He is also survived by nieces, nephews and cousins in Poland. Born in Lukow, Poland to Kazimierz and Romana Drobik, he spent 5 years in Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Flossenburg (1941-1945). In 1946, he married in Hohenfels, Germany, and relocated to Belgium to work in coal mines. Emigrating to the United States (Chicago) in 1953, he worked until age 65 as a machinist. His love of photography and nature led to numerous trips to the great parks of western United States, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. (He hoped to, but never reached, New Zealand.) He loved music, and acquired an extensive album collection of classical, baroque, renaissance, folk, and sacred music. A hobby he maintained to the very end was gardening. He always found a plot of dirt where he could plant flowers, vegetables, and herbs. Every available window sill was loaded with cacti, begonias, gloxinias, coleus, and various succulents. After retirement he returned to school earning a bachelor?s degree from Roosevelt University, masters degrees in History and Literature, and in Judaica from Spertus College. At 77, he was the oldest person to receive a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago. For his dissertation, he wrote of his observations and experiences at the concentration camps. He returned to Europe for research which included revisiting the concentration camp sites. This work was later published by East European Monographs titled, ""A Battlefield of Ideas: Nazi Concentration Camps and their Polish Prisoners"" and distributed by Columbia University Press, New York. He felt a lot of gratitude to the College and University professors and personnel who assisted him in that journey. The various places he lived in the Chicago area were very humble places without a lot of space or furniture, except for all his books, on shelves which lined every wall of every room. He always had one guest chair for the occasional visitor. He loved to tell stories. He wrote letters, extensively, to family and friends. He submitted many articles which were published in newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and abroad. At the end, he was very weak and could no longer write and correspond with his many friends and acquaintances. At his request, there will be no funeral home visitation. Cremation will occur at Davenport Crematory. A memorial mass in his name will be celebrated at 10am, Saturday, February 19 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 1023 McHenry Ave, Crystal Lake, Illinois with Rev. Bruce Ludeke as celebrant. For additional information contact Rita Michener at krmichener@att.net or 734-433-4283 and Wendy Basch at marv.wendy@sbcglobal.net, 847-658-2688. "All the stories have been told?Anyway, this story has been told and now it comes to end."

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