Today, August 31st, is Casimer Kowalski's birthday. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915, so today would have been his 98th birthday. He was the youngest son of Wladyslawa ('Lottie') and Dominik Kowalski, who were Polish immigrants. His three older brothers had been born in Poland; he was the only member of his family born in America. He married my grandmother, Veronica Bodziony, in 1939, and they had four children together. My grandmother passed away in 1983, and Grandpa lived as a widower for almost 20 years. He passed away in 2002, about a month shy of his 87th birthday. We always used to celebrate Grandpa's birthday on Labor Day weekend. Here are a couple of photos of his birthday celebration from 1998:
