Michel Kozak

Michel Kozak, of Washingtonville, age 84, passed away on April 21, 2020, with family members by his side at the Kaplan Family Hospice Residence in Newburgh. He was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and battled a variety of additional health ailments in recent years.

He was born on July 9, 1935 in Milno, Ukraine and was the only child of Ivan and Agrippina Kozak.

His father was taken to a German work camp during World War II, and Michel later went to Hanover, Germany. In 1948, the family moved to Alsace, France, where Michel aspired to become an auto mechanic. But an apprenticeship was hard to come by, so he became a cabinet maker instead and started out by making windows and doors. In the village of Ostheim, he worked in a facility that produced cheese where he met his future wife, Elisabeth. They were married in 1959 and were encouraged by his father-in-law to immigrate to the United States in search of a better life, which they did in 1961. They first settled in the Bronx, and later moved to Manhattan where they also took on the job of working as the building superintendants. Michel could repair almost anything, doing electrical and plumbing work in addition to his full-time job as a cabinet maker as a member on the New York City Council of Carpenters Union Local 2790, working in many of the office towers of Manhattan installing custom cabinetry. In 1987 they moved to Washingtonville, where he always found projects to work on around the house well into his retirement. During the last two years of his life he lived at the Braemar assisted living facility in Middletown where he was able to socialize with many other friends. He was a member of the German American Club of Middletown and enjoyed dancing, as well as watching New York Yankees baseball, even though it wasn’t a sport that he grew up with.

Michel was predeceased by his wife, Elisabeth, in 2019. He is survived by his daughter Beatrice; his son Daniel and his wife Tammy; and his grandson Jason.

The family has designated The V Foundation for Cancer Research for memorial contributions if one wishes to do so.