Obituary for Carol Biliczky's father

Calling hours were 6-8 p.m. Monday, July 12 at Waite & Son Funeral Home, 765 N. Court St., Medina, for Beacon Journal reporter Carol Biliczky's father, Charles Biliczky. Services were 11

a.m. Tuesday, July 13 at the funeral Home.

His obituary in the Beacon Journal:

Charles Biliczky, 89, died Friday, July 9 in the palliative care unit at Akron City Hospital after a long battle with bladder cancer.

He was born on April 23, 1921 on Whisky Lane in Brecksville, Ohio, to Louis Biliczky, a tailor, and Agnes Paliczko Biliczky, a homemaker, both of whom had emigrated from Austria-Hungary in their teens. The family moved to North Royalton, where Charles graduated from high school and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He became a chief petty officer and served aboard a repair ship off of France during D-Day.

He walked up to a nurse named Rose Siewertson at a V.F.W. dance and asked her if she had a match. When she said she didn't, he said he'd have to use his own. Months later the two married and eventually bought a home in Medina, Ohio, where they raised two daughters. Charles made the most of his city lot, raising vegetables -- particularly tomatoes and peppers, his favorites -- and roses, which absolutely had to be red.

After he retired from his job as a sheet metal worker, he and Rose traveled widely throughout the United States and Canada and he took up a more offbeat hobby, brick collecting. He eventually amassed more than 10,000 named bricks by rooting through old construction sites and dumps with other ``brickers' and by trading his collection with fellow devotees at brick meets. Along the way he collected arrowheads and came to know John Wayne movies by heart. There wasn't a western he didn't love.

Charles was an honest, even-tempered and loving man who worked hard at his job and his hobbies. He will be deeply missed.

He leaves his wife, Rose; daughter, Carol Levandoski of Akron; sister, Erma Plachy of Parma; nephews, Bruce Biliczky of Chippewa Lake and Bill Plachy of Nyack, N.Y.; nieces, Susan Plachy of Perry, Maine, and Jean Siewertson of LaFargeville, N.Y.; Linda and Don Levandoski of Hinckley and many other friends and relatives. Among those who preceded him in death were his daughter, Joyce Biliczky; son-in-law, Rob Levandoski; brother-in-law, James Plachy and brother, Ralph Biliczky. We hope he is finding some comfort with them now.

Services will be held Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 11 a.m. at Waite & Son Funeral Home, 765 N. Court St., Medina, Ohio. Rev. Lisa Morrison officiate. Burial will take place at Spring Grove Cemetery. Family will receive friends Monday, July 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. Contributions may be made to the American Heart Association , 3505 Embassy Parkway, Suite #100, Akron, OH 44333


Published in Akron Beacon Journal from July 11 to July 12, 2010

Carol has won national awards for her education articles during her 20 years at the BJ. Her husband, Robert C. Levandoski, who died Sept. 8, 2008 at the age of 59, was a Medina novelist who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for "Fresh Eggs," a 2002 book written under the name C.R. Corwin. It was among the six books he wrote. Bob once was a Medina Gazette reporter, a public relations representative for Brunswick city schools and a trade magazine reporter. He also taught writing classes at the University of Akron.

Carol and Bob met at a book release event for his "Going to Chicago," published in 1997, and were married in 2003.

Carol credited Bob with helping her deal with the death of her sister, Joyce Biliczky, also in 2003.