Stanley Robert Konopka

Stanley Robert Konopka died Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at home on Crumstown Highway, South Bend. He was 97.

Stan was born to Louis and Helen (Cnota) Konopka on Feb. 4, 1926, in Chicago. They moved briefly to Wisconsin before settling in Vandalia, Mich., where his father operated an auto garage and the family farmed. Stan always enjoyed farming his 20 acres and growing vegetables in his garden, planting trees and mowing his two-acre lawn with a fleet of meticulously maintained riding mowers. He also was an avid fisherman.

Along with his parents, Stanley is preceded in death by two siblings, Louis Konopka Jr. of Eau Claire in 2015 and Eileen Adams of Niles in 2016. He is survived by a sister, Christine McQueary of Mishawaka.

Stan attended a Catholic school in Chicago where he studied in Polish in the mornings and in English in the afternoons. His thirst for knowledge endured his entire life. He read newspapers from cover to cover.

Stan married Betty Ann Jordan on April 21, 1956, at St. Jude Catholic Church in South Bend.

Matron of Honor Marian Jankowski introduced her fellow South Bend Community School Corp. employee to Stan when he began working for Marian’s husband at a Citgo gas station. Best man was Don Grabber of Buchanan.

In three years, the Konopkas had three daughters. Betty Ann soon left work to raise the girls. After driving trucks for 30 years with Yellow Transit Freight Lines, Stan retired Sept. 11, 1989, with a plaque for never experiencing an accident.

A World War II rifleman, Stan fought with the 274th infantry’s 70th “Trailblazers” Division, serving in Germany and France in 1944-46.

His military decorations and citations include the European, African and Middle Eastern (EAME) Campaign ribbon with two bronze stars, a good conduct medal, a victory medal, a World War II Army of Occupation medal for Germany and a distinguished unit badge.

When grandson Mike Marek made it home from Iraq for Christmas in 2007, it made front-page news in the South Bend Tribune because Stan, then 82, and grandpa Frank Marek, 84, and also a WW II veteran, gave him a hero’s welcome at South Bend International Airport.

Mike served 15 months on duty in Iraq as a member of the 82nd Airborne’s elite 5th Squadron.

“As his family and friends slowly stepped back to give him some breathing room and his moist eyes cleared, Mike looked around for his own heroes. His grandfathers,” Tribune columnist Bill Moor wrote. “They may have gotten the biggest hugs.”

“I can still see him splitting wood with me as a youngster,” Stan marveled.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, and all the birthdays and holidays in between, “Grandpa Chicken’s” spacious yard rang with the clang of horseshoes, polkas from his boom box and harmonica around campfires.

The epitome of a gracious host, Stan greeted every guest with a shot and a beer, even at 10 a.m. He loved to play poker with a cigar clenched in his teeth in the motor home which had carried his family across the country on adventures or to northern Michigan, where he indulged his passion for mushroom hunting.

Cooler times of the year, he enjoyed watching westerns, particularly starring John Wayne, remodeling rooms with knotty pine paneling and maintaining his equipment, from chainsaws to tractors, which he treated reverently and simonized faithfully.

Surviving along with his wife of almost 67 years, are: three daughters, Cheryl (Junior) Balderas of South Bend; Kathleen (Bill) Marek of Lydick; and Susan (John) Eby of Dowagiac, Mich.; 10 grandchildren, Jennifer Biggs of South Bend, Heather (Mark Miller) Salinas of South Bend, Kristie (Jose Juarez) Salinas of South Bend, Kevin (Kathy) Marek of South Bend, Matt (Courtney) Marek of South Bend, Mike (Brittany) Marek of South Bend, Danielle (Ryan) Schmidt of South Bend, Jordan (Candis) Eby of Portage, Mich., Savannah (Kyle) Walters of Kalamazoo, Mich., and Logan Eby of Dowagiac; and 20 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Monday, April 10, from 3 to 8 p.m. with a rosary to begin at 6 p.m. at St. Joseph Funeral Home, 824 S. Mayflower Road South Bend, IN 46619.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, April 11, at 12:30 p.m. at St. Stanislaus Kostka, 55756 Tulip Road, New Carlisle, IN 46552. Burial will follow at a later date.

Online condolences can be made at sjfh.net.

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