Joseph Paul Koprowski

The eldest of three children, Joe was born June 20, 1922 to Phillip and Josephine Koprowski in the eastern Pennsylvania town of Hanover Green. Phillip was a coal miner – like nearly all adult men living along the Susquehanna River at the time – and he died of acute appendicitis when Joe was a young boy. Josephine moved Joe and his siblings into her parents' nearby home, where they were raised in a close-knit Catholic community. Joe fondly recalled his days as altar boy.

After graduating high school at age 17, on December 14, 1940, 18-year-old Joe officially enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He'd made the decision to enlist and obtained his mother’s permission months earlier, upon seeing the first-ever commercial airplanes (DC3's) high in the Pennsylvania skies. "I saw those first planes and thought: I want to be up there,” he often said. “I didn’t want to work sun-up to sundown in the hole (the coal mines).”

Joe completed Basic Training, then spent nearly a year at the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he graduated a fully trained U.S. Army Air Corps Airplane & Engine Mechanic. Private Joe's timing was fortuitous, however, for just when it was time to receive orders, the Japanese Empire attacked United States Navy forces at Pearl Harbor.

Joe spent the next three years keeping Allied bombers and fighters in the air, including one week with his buddies building a plane from scrapyard parts on their own time. That plane saw further service. He served with the United States Army Air Force Fifth Air Force Division in the Asiatic theatre, primarily in Australia and Papa New Guinea. His training and leadership skills propelled him rapidly through the ranks, and in four years, 22-year-old Joe Koprowski attained the highest enlisted rank possible at the time: Master Sergeant (E-7). His decorations are numerous.

Like many World War II veterans, Joe used the skills he'd learned in the military to build a family and successful life. He left the Army on December 14, 1945, and promptly enrolled in advanced aircraft training at Spartan in Oklahoma. It was there he met the love of his life Mary Eremewicz on a blind date. They would soon wed.

For the next four decades, from October 1946 through December 1986, Joe Koprowski was an Irving-based flight engineer with American Airlines. He logged tens of thousands of miles in the air overseeing increasingly complex aircraft without incident. Joe and Mary had one child, a girl Jeanne (Crowe). Joe outlived them both, and often said losing them were the hardest times of his life. But he was a strong-willed veteran and a survivor (fewer than 2 percent of WWII veterans are still alive) and he never lost his will to live, just as he never lost his razor wit, his engaging smile or his eye for attractive women. Joe was sharp, funny and good-looking to the end. He danced with and dated women well into his 90's; he drove his 2017 F-150 pickup until age 97; he trimmed his outdoor roses beautifully until age 98; and he blew out the candles on his 99th birthday cake.

A Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteer and a lifelong member of the VFW and American Legion, Joe attended St. Jude's Catholic Church in Gun Barrel City. He loved his country, his family and his friends – and he most assuredly loves being reunited now with Mary and Jeanne.

Joe is survived by nieces, Louise Toth, Rosalinda Renskoski, Sondra Clark, Paula Walsh; nephews, Ronald Weindorf, Michael Weindorf; great niece, Sara Haines; great nephews, Tom and Rob Birke, and others; as well as a very long list of friends and neighbors who loved him dearly.

Burial services with full military honors will take place at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Wednesday, August 18 at 2 p.m.