Walter Garwacki

Walter passed on Wednesday morning. He was born amidst the great depression on October 15, 1932. He grew up in Schenectady and attended Nott Terrace High School. Upon completion of school and with the Korean war at full throttle he joined the United States Navy.

Enlistment started with a swearing in ceremony and transportation to Naval Training Center Great Lakes, Illinois. Following boot camp, Walter was assigned to VC-3 at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, Ca. Walter became an integral member of the maintenance team keeping the F2H Banshee aircraft in flight ready condition.

Walter’s squadron (VC-3) received orders to deploy to the Southern and Western Pacific aboard the carrier USS Essex (CV-9). They boarded the ship at Naval Station Alameda and proceeded under the Golden Gate bridge and into the vast Pacific Ocean. This deployment was a busy time for all crew members as they constantly launched and recovered aircraft from Essex in both training and mission critical flights.

Some ports of call on this deployment included Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Subic Bay, Philippines and Yokosuka, Japan. The major mission of the deployment was the evacuation of the Tachen Islands. This involved getting ~40,000 Chinese Nationalist to the relative safety of Formosa (Now called Taiwan). During the evacuation, VC-3 flew CAP (Combat air patrol) to safely escort ships and aircraft from the mainland and Tachens to their destination in Formosa.

After the Navy, Walter went to work for the General Electric Company at the GE R&D site in Niskayuna, NY. His experience and training in the Navy established Walter as a highly valued member of the staff. He was able to parse electrical diagramming and component composition to meet the strict requirements of the scientists working on both pure and targeted research. During his GE career he worked for and made friends with many brilliant scientists including Nobel laureates Ivar Giaever and Irving Laingmuir as well as the brilliant physicist / chemist Katherine Burr Blodgett.

Walter’s most important discovery while at GE was a young woman named Elizabeth Leier who worked as an administrative assistant. Walter fell hard for Liz and they were married in 1957 (They celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary on July 20th). Walter and Liz had three children whom they raised in Rotterdam, NY. They remain a close-knit family and that reflects on the values Liz and Walt instilled in them.

Walter and Liz took many vacations to Indiana to visit Liz’s sister and her family. Some notable memories include being asked to close-up the restaurant during an overnight stop south of Buffalo. (They were served dinner and the cook and waitress asked them to just lock the door on the way out). They had themselves a time one night when their brother-in-law rode into the local bar on horseback and ordered a round for the family.

Even in skilled nursing care he was keen to learn and explore as evidenced by trips over the past year to investigate the truss system on the Blenheim covered bridge and a volunteer assignment to relate his experiences in the Navy to a group of Galway High School students. Walter loved the interaction with the students. One of Walters’ final outings was a trip to Saratoga Racecourse on July 23 where he was hosted by some friends in the Founders room of the 1863 club. Walter loved it.

Walter enjoyed his Bourbon Manhattan with his friend Mark each Tuesday evening, and if you can tolerate alcohol he would recommend you do the same.

Walter is survived by his wife Elizabeth, son Mark (Roseann), Daughters Theresa (David) and Sandra (Allen), and Grandchildren Ashley, Nicole, Timothy, and Abbey. He also leaves behind his sister Lorraine Sobieski, several nieces and nephews, his good friend Mark, and his granddogs Winnifred and Willow. He loved them all and they loved him.

To honor Walter, please be kind, be humble and never stop being curious.

A Catholic service will be held on Saturday, August 1st at 11AM at the Standish Community Center at Eddie Village Green in Cohoes, NY.

To share a memory of Walter or leave a special message for his family, please visit the guest book below.