Ernest J. Nowak

Ernest J. Nowak, 94, of Grand Island died Sunday, May 11, 2008 at St. Francis Medical Center Skilled Care in Grand Island.



Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in St. Paul. The Reverend Ray Kosmicki will officiate. Interment will be held in Elmwood Cemetery in St. Paul with military honors at graveside by Carl Mogensen American Legion Post #119 of St. Paul. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, from 5 -8 p.m. with a wake service at 7:00 p.m. at the church.



Memorials are suggested to the Carl Mogensen American Legion Post #119 of St. Paul.



Jacobsen-Greenway Funeral Home in St. Paul is in charge of arrangements.



Mr. Nowak was born March 15, 1914 in Cedar Rapids, NE to Felix and Victoria (Jaworski) Nowak.



Ernest was raised and lived in Cedar Rapids and attended Catholic grade school. Joseph E. and Bernice Sturek were like parents to Ernest and their home was always open to him.



He served 20 years in the U. S. Navy, entering in June 1934. During his time in the navy he served on nine different ships. He was one of the crew who was on the USS Lamson in 1936 when it was commissioned. During the time on this ship, he participated in the search for Amelia Aerhart in 1937.



Ernest was stationed on at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 on the USS Craven. The ship was out at sea and was on the way back to Pearl Harbor but ran low on fuel and had slowed to 1/2 speed for refueling at sea at the same time Pearl Harbor was attacked.



While he was stationed on the USS Telemon in 1946, he was involved in an atomic bomb test. The US Navy dropped an atomic bomb on several damaged and decommissioned ships. The next day he was part of a boarding party who went on board the ships to see the damage done by the bomb.



From 1952-1954, he was stationed at USNRTC as an instructor on the lakefront of Chicago.



During his naval career, Ernest had crossed the equator several times.



The USS Lamson was one of several ships sunk by the atomic bomb test. Ernest was one of the crew who both commissioned and helped sink the ship.



Ernest received his discharge from the US Navy in June 1954 and was transferred to the reserves on June 21, 1954.



After his military career, he worked for Max Scarborough for 5 years and then went to work as a pipefitter in Illinois, Texas and Louisiana for 20 years, retiring and living in Louisiana for another 10 years. He returned to Nebraska in 1993.



Ernest liked to hunt, fish, watch and read westerns, baseball and play pinochle. He also enjoyed working on his computer, which he learned later in his life.



He was a member of the VFW of Grand Island and the Carl Mogensen American Legion Post #119 of St. Paul.



Survivors include; nieces and nephews, Eileen Kowalski of St. Paul, Bunny Gorecki and her husband David of Farwell, Mary Kezior of Farwell, Jerry Sturek and his wife, Mona of Folsom, CA; Nancy Gleason and her husband Curt and Denise Krueger and her husband Byron, and a sister-in-law, Ann Nowak, all of Hastings; and many great nieces and nephews; great-great nieces and nephews and several great-great-great nieces and nephews.



He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Bernice Sturek; and three brothers, Clement, Hubert and Leander Nowak.