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JOHN ANTHONY WISNIEWSKI, known to
his classmates as “Wiz,” was born in Buffalo,
NY, to Polish parents and grandparents. Wiz
was the son of Edward John Wisniewski and
Mary Grabski Wisniewski. His father served
in the Army in the late 1920s, and was one
of 95 soldiers out of 110,000 selected for appointment
to West Point. Unfortunately, he
could not pass the physical exam due to an inherited
condition of diabetes. He returned to
Buffalo, where he became a Probation Officer.
He and his wife had four children: Barbara,
John, Edward, and Marilyn.
Wiz was an ambitious boy, well respected
by his family and friends. He studied hard as
a student in a Jesuit high school and, in his
senior year, received a congressional second
alternate appointment to West Point. In May
1950, he was accepted to the Academy, with
a reporting date of 5 Jul 1950. However, he
was not sworn in until 26 Jul 1950, his seventeenth
birthday, making him the youngest
cadet in the Class of 1954.
Wiz loved his time at West Point, where
he experienced some of the happiest times and
memories of his life. In later years, he often
took his family to visit West Point and continued
to support the football team, particularly
at the Army-Navy game. All four of his children
were taught at a very young age to stand
at attention with their chins in. His oldest son,
John, Jr., later used this skill when he entered
the Air Force Academy. Throughout his four
years at the academy, Wiz consistently demonstrated
his willingness to help his classmates
and established himself as a versatile athlete
and an above-average student. Wiz was also a
Catholic acolyte all four years. His most noted
characteristic at West Point was his ability to
cheerfully bear any turn of events. Prior to
graduation, Wiz selected Armor Branch.
Following graduation leave, Wiz reported
to the Armor School at Ft. Knox, KY, to attend
the Armor Officers Basic Course. While
at Ft. Knox, he met his future wife, Evelyn Jane
Thompson. After training at Ft. Knox, Wiz attended
Airborne School at Ft. Benning, GA,
and volunteered for Ranger School, which he
completed in 1955. On 19 Feb 1955, Wiz
and Evelyn were married. He was then assigned
as a platoon leader in a tank battalion
in the 4th Armored Division at Ft. Hood, TX,
and, in 1956, participated in Operation Sage
Brush in Louisiana with the division.
Shortly thereafter, they moved to Bad Kissingen, Germany, where Wiz was assigned
as a platoon leader in E Troop, 2nd Squadron,
14th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Five of
Wiz’s USMA classmates who went Armor
were also assigned to the squadron, making
for a grand reunion. Every third week,
E Troop patrolled the Iron Curtain between
West and East Germany. While serving with
the 2nd squadron, Wiz was promoted to first
lieutenant and given command of the squadron’s
tank company.
In 1959, Wiz and his family, which had
grown to include a daughter, Sharon, then
returned to Ft. Knox to attend the Armor Officers Advanced Course. While attending
the course, Wiz underwent an annual physical,
which determined that, like his father, he
had diabetes. Wiz completed the Advanced
Course, but, in 1960, after several weeks of
diet and testing, he was informed he would be
medically discharged.
After his discharge, Wiz and his family
moved to Buffalo, NY, where he took a position
as regional sales manager for Westinghouse
Electric Company. He also earned an MBA
from the University of Pittsburgh. During this
time, on 18 Jan 1961, Evelyn gave birth to their
first son, John Anthony, Jr. Wiz was then promoted
to national sales manager and relocated
with Westinghouse to Pittsburgh, PA. On 8
Aug 1963, in their living room, Wiz assisted
Evelyn in the premature birth of their twin
boys, Michael and Mark. After several more
relocations with Westinghouse, Wiz took a
more stable position with Lutron Electronics
in Allentown, PA, as sales and marketing vice
president. After a time, this position also began
to require travel and relocation, so Wiz
accepted a position with the Anixter Brothers
as a plant manager in New Orleans, where he
lived with his family for the rest of his life. In
1979, Evelyn passed away there.
Wiz was a wonderful father to his four
children and immersed himself in their extracurricular
activities. He always volunteered to
support the children with his time or effort.
He often traveled from event to athletic event
throughout the day to participate and support
each child. He was also an academic role
model, providing fatherly motivation for his
children to succeed. As a testament to his life,
all four of his children graduated from college
after his death. His daughter Sharon became
a school teacher; his son John graduated from
the Air Force Academy and became a Top
Gun, a colonel, and a wing commander in
the USAF; his son Michael became a major
in the Army and was in Iraq when the statue
of Saddam Hussein was torn down; and his
son Mark became the head baseball coach at
Brother Martin High School.
On 25 Feb 1981, in New Orleans, Wiz
succumbed to lymph node cancer. He is survived
by his daughter, three sons, and nine
grandchildren. He was a real soldier and a loving
husband and father.
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