In Memorium

Our condolences to the families and friends of the following long-time members who have gone to the big social club in the sky:
Latest passed friends:

Condolences are in order for the family and friends of Joe Black who was a long-time member of the club.
Heres all the details for our departed member Joe who was just 72 years old.

Long time member Joe Bernas passed away on July 18, 2024. The family will be holding a celebration of life at the club on Sunday August 11th from 12-4. Joe leaves us all with a smile as we recall many fond memories with all his friends. Here is Joe's obituary. RIP JOE !

Past member Lester Shiesley passed away on June 14,2024. Obituary is here. Lester will be remembered as a teammate, volleyball official and mostly as NT's Umpire in Chief in charge of all the softball games that used to be played in NT and in Tonawanda. Here is Lester obituary. "Yer OUTA Here!" RIP Les and condolences to his dear wife Karen, children and grandchildren..

Bob Minney passed away on May 14, 2024 after battling cancer. Bob was retired from the Water Dept. as Senior Maintenance Man and a 1975 graduate of NTHS. Bob will be missed by all his friends and family. RIP Bob. Obituary for Bob is here.

We lost another long time member Harvey "Butch" Huff on 2/21/24. Butch will be missed by all of his friends and family. Here is his obituary.

Long time 3rd Warders Member Dennis C. Szymanski passed away on January 17th, 2024, at the VA Hospital in Buffalo NY.
Dennis was owner of Chester’s Market and the Stardust Lounge both on Oliver Street until his retirement back in the late 90’s
Denis loved to fish, hunt, snow ski and attend to his vegetable garden. A tremendous chef he was always willing to get behind the grill at parties and events. He is is survived by his dear friend Arlene Zuba, Sisters Adrienne Hood, Geraldine Wiech, and Brother Gerald “Ange” Szymanski. A private service was held at the WNY National Cemetery in Corfu NY on February 5, 2024.

Long-time member Al Dickman lived a long life and left many friends and family recently. There was a celebration of his long life at the club on July 29, 2023. Here is Al's obituary.

Condolences to the Koszelak family on the loss of their patriarch and Dad Joe Koszelak Sr. who passed away recently at the age of 93. Joe was one of our eldest members. Rest in Peace Joe !

Stan Gawrys passed away on May 1, 2023. The long time member and retired Board of Education employee was 69 years old. He will be missed by all his friends.
Here is his obituary. RIP Stan.

On July 24, 2022, long time member and great guy Doug Olewnik got his wings. Fly high Dougie, you will be missed by all your freinds and family. Here is his obituary.

Ron Pilozzi, former Mayor of Tonawanda passed away on June 4, 2022. Ron was a Vietnam vet in addition to his years of community service and will be missed by all who knew this gentle giant. Here is his obituary. RIP Ron.

The Club lost a great long-time member Jim Urbaniak on April 16, 2022. He will be sadly missed by his many friends, family and band-mates. RIP Jimmy ! Here is Jim's obituary.

Condolences to the family and friends of Tom Witt who passed away recently. There is a fundraiser coming up soon for Tom's family in the gym, details to follow.

It's with deep regret we must pass along the sad news of member Emil Kolpack's passing. Emil was a great guy with many friends who will miss his kind-hearted spirit. The family of Emil J. Kolpack are having a Memorial for him at Fretthold Funeral Home 1241 Oliver St, North Tonawanda Tuesday 6/29/21 from 4 p.m.-8 p.m

Condolences to the family of long-time member John J. Lukasik who passed away on June 20, 2021. John's obituary is on the Wattengal Funeral home page and can be viewed here.

One of oldest and long standing members Dan Zatkos passed away on January 26, 2021 at the age of 84.
Dan was admired by all who ever knew him. Condolences to Dan's family. Rest in Peace old friend. Here is his obituary.

Long-time member Paul Kostelny passed away on 1/25/21 at the age of 85. Paul's obituary is here.

Member Donald Janda, 44 year old nephew of member Mike Janda has passed away. We'll get some information on his short life up on the website shortly. Donald was the son of the late John Janda who also died at the young age of 45. Condolences to Mike and the entire Janda family.

Condolences to the family and friends of our long-time member Paul Obarka who passed away on December 23, 2020 at the age of 68. Paulie will be missed by all his friends around the club. Here is his obituary. RIP Paul.

Monday November 30, 2020 we lost long-time member Frank Sumi who died suddenly of a heart attack at home. Here is the details on Frank's life and obituary. Frank was in charge of our Scholarships for high school seniors and will be missed by his loving family and many friends.

We just lost long-time member Billy Fanto on November 25, 2020 to the Covid-19 virus after he spent 3-4 weeks on a ventilator. Billy was just 59 years old and will be missed by his many friends and beloved family. Here is the obituary for Billy.

Long-time member and friend to all Tom Camann passed away on 10/31/20 after an 18 month battle with cancer. Tom was 81 and will be missed by all who knew him. Here is his obituary RIP Tom !

We also lost another long time member, Stan Urbaniak who passed on 10/31/20 at the age of 82. Here is the obituary for Stan who had many friends at the club.

Long-time regular and friend to all Jack O'Rourke passed away on Dec. 12, 2019 after a long battle with kidney disease. Here is Jack's obituary. RIP Jack!

Word has come of the sudden passing of long-time member Jim McCoy who had just recently retired after many years of work at the GM plant in Tonawanda. The Lockport resident had many friends and will be missed especially by his wife and family. Here is his obituary from the Lockport newspaper. RIP JImmy!

We lost long-time T-NT sportsman Louie Sprenger on 11/18/19 at the age of 76. Here's Lou's obituary from the John O. Roth funeral home. Lou had many friends over the years and will be missed by all.

Ralph LaFreniere passed away on 11/6/19 at the age of 83. Here is his obituary below. Condolences to all his family and friends. Obituary here:
https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/09/lafreniere-ralph-e/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=death-notices

Deep sympathy to the family and friends of Jackie Bors who died on April 19, 2019 at the age of 61. Jack was a past Third Warders Golf League champion and was fighting lung disease for the past five years. The family is planning a celebration of life at the club on Sunday May 19, 2019 from 2-5 PM for all Jack's family and many friends. There is an obituary here.

Condolences to the friends and family of a great community servant Dennis Pasciak who passed away recently. Here is his obituary. RIP Dennis.

We lost good member William "Billy" Lucore on January 16, 2019 at the age of 65. He will be missed by all his Volleyball & Pickle ball friends. Condolences to all Billy's family and friends. Here is his obituary.

Long-time former member Phil Harris has lost a long battle with cancer this recently in Florida where he lived. Condolences to his wife Julie and all his family and many friends. Phil was just 57 years old and will be missed by all who knew him. There will be a celebration of Phil's life on March 2nd at the Club for all his family and friends. A memorial gathering will take place Saturday, March 2nd from 12:00PM-2:00PM at Renewal Church located at 530 Meadow Drive in North Tonawanda. A memorial service will take place immediately after at 2:00PM. A Celebration of Life will be held following the services at church at the Third Warders Social Club located at 147 12th Ave. North Tonawanda.

There's an obituary for Phillip J Harris on Ever Loved.
https://everloved.com/life-of/phillip-harris/obituary/?source=sms

One of our newest members Michael Sokoley passed away suddenly on
January 2, 2019 at the age of 67. Click into his name above to see his tribute page.

Long-time member Joe Nicpon passed away on Nov. 11, 2018 after a brief illness. See Joe's obituary here. Joe will be missed by his many friends and family.

Long time member John Bartolomeo passed away on October 18, 2018 at the age of 81. Condolences to his son and member Brian Bartolomeo and also John's family and friends. Here is John's obit.

Tom Stones passed away suddenly on August 12th. Condolences go out to his many friends and family.

Member Jody Giessert has passed away at the age of 65. Our condolences to his family and friends. Here is his obituary.

Long-time member Al Zellner has passed away at the age of 78. Al was a
great guy who will be missed by his many friends. Here is his obituary. His services are being handled by the Roth Funeral home.

Member John Gotowko passed away on January 20, 2018. John was just
67 years old and suffered from cancer. Here is his obituary. John will be missed by all his friends and family.

Long-time member and great all-around great guy Joe Palka passed away suddenly on January 5, 2018. Arrangements and obituary are here. Condolences go out to his wife Judy, the family and Joe's many friends. .

Dave Opalinski passed away on 8/24/16 at the age of 82.

Legendary High School Basketball Coach Archie O'Bryan passed away on 10/11/16 at the age of 64.

Long-time City employee and friend to all Jerry Campbell lost his battle with Cancer on 11/16/16 at the age of 66.

Everyone's favorite gentleman Gary Ryder went off to the big fairway above after a 4 year battle with colon cancer on 12/18/16 at the age of 69.

Longtime member Teddy Samborski passed away on Jan. 17, 2017 at the age of 89. Click here to see his obituary.

66 year member and local sports icon Archie Hood passed away on Monday 2/27/17 at the age of 84. Click here to visit his obituary page. Arrangements by Benjamin Memorial Home.

Condolences go out to the friends and family of member Jason Krull who passed away on 4/24/17 after a tragic accident. Jason was just 43 years old and will be missed by all his friends.

Legendary Third Warder Norm Hebeler lost his long battle with cancer on 5/11/17. Condolences go out to his sons Russell and Larry and daughter Kelly and their families. There is no visitation and Norm has donated his body to the University of Buffalo. There will be a celebration of Norm's life for family and friends coming up soon at the club. Norm was 74.

Long-time member Myeran "Mickey" Pusch passed after a brief illness on July 4, 2017 at the age of 89. Here are the details of the arrangements handled by Benjamin Memorial Home

Condolences and prayers go out to the friends and family of member Tom McTaggart who passed away on July 4, 2017.
Here is Tom's obituary.

Long-time member Herb Eichler passed away on August 2, 2017 at the age of 86. Here is Herb's obituary. The great beyond has gained a tremendous Euchre player. Condolences go out to Herb's family and friends.

Another Club Icon, Kenny Zuhr passed away on September 13, 2017. Ken had been waging a fierce battle with Mesothelioma for the past 2 years and is now at rest. Condolences go out to Ken's wife & family and legions of friends from both sides of the canal. R.I.P. "Red Warrior". Roth Funeral Home is in charge of the services. Wake is Tuesday 9/19 from 2-6 pm.

Third Ward Hall of Famer Phil Prohaska passed away on October 18, 2017 after a short battle with terminal cancer at the age of 67. Phil will be remembered fondly by all his friends and will be especially missed by his dear wife Mickey and his family. Phils obituary appears here.

Long time member Edmund Wieclaw passed away on October 31, 2017 at the age of 83. He will be missed by all his friends. Here is his obituary.

Richard E. Winters passed away on Nov. 13, 2017 at the age of 74. Here is his obituary.

Keep their families in your daily prayers.

If anyone has anyone to add to this page, send an email to thirdwardersclub@gmail.com
or contact membership chairman Keith Miranto at 531-0436.

This page is sponsored by member Don Benjamin. Click his card to visit their website. Thank you.