Fire district chief was Army veteran
4/14/2009Retired Toledo Fire District Chief Stanley Kozlowski died Monday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio after battling emphysema and heart disease. He was 86.
Mr. Kozlowski was on the fire department 33 years, retiring in 1979.
"People who worked under him enjoyed his command and his comradeship," retired Deputy Fire Chief Robert Schwanzl said.
Chief Kozlowski became district chief, now known as battalion chief, in 1967 after becoming a lieutenant in 1956 and a captain in 1959.
As district chief at Station 18, he responded to a large fire at Raceway Park and a small-plane crash at Eleanor and Lewis avenues, both in 1977.
"It was a 24/7 job for him," his son Jim Kozlowski said.
"When he was off duty, he had the fire radios and he always monitored the calls."
His daughter, Mary Beth Rork, said her dad was kind and easygoing.
He lived in Point Place until he moved with his wife, Marion, to Sylvania for four years before she died in April, 2008.
A Woodward High graduate, he served in the Army in 1943 and 1944.
After retirement, Mr. Kozlowski traveled with his wife, played golf, and sold real estate, Mrs. Rork said.
He is survived by his sons, Ken and Jim, daughter, Mary Beth Rork, five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.
Visitation will be after 2 p.m. tomorrow at Thomas I. Wisniewski Funeral Home. The funeral is to be at 10:30
a.m. Thursday in Little Flower Catholic Church.
The family suggests tributes to the Toledo Fire Museum.