Obituary of Michael Olejar

Michael Olejar was born on March 17, 1934, one of four children, in the village of Dubova, Czechoslovakia. The farming community at that time was in the path of the World War II troops passing through--going east toward Russia, then west toward Germany. Education in the town was suspended so that the school could function as a hospital. During one period the village was evacuated, and families had to move in with other families in neighboring villages. In 1947, Michael, his mother, and two sisters traveled on the Swedish ship Gripsholm to the United States, and were reunited with his father, who had been working in Youngstown, OH during the war, along with his eldest sister. With no English language skills when he arrived in the United States at age 13, Michael became a diligent and accomplished student, and earned a Chemical Engineering degree at Youngstown University in 1956, and a B.A. in Mathematics in 1958. In 1956 he worked as a chemical engineer in a galvanizing plant at Republic Steel and later entered Ohio State University, receiving a Master of Science in Biophysics and a Doctor of Medicine in 1963. As part of his research while working on his biophysics degree, he split atoms at a cyclotron. Dr. Olejar interned in the U.S. Public Health Service in Staten Island, NY, with a rank of Senior Assistant Surgeon. This was followed by a residency in internal medicine at the University of California at San Diego. He then completed a fellowship at Seattle’s Swedish Hospital Tumor Institute. In Seattle, he met and married his wife, Janet (nee Marckx), with whom he has been married for 42 years. Dr. Olejar’s medical practice was located in West Seattle for 17 years; in 1987, he moved the family to Tacoma and continued his medical practice until retiring in 1997. Dr. Olejar’s childhood memories became stories his children loved to hear at bedtime. Over the years, he returned to his little village of Dubova, visiting relatives, attending the church, picking mushrooms, and inviting relatives and former friends to the local tavern, where they sang throughout the night. Michael is survived by his wife, Janet; his children, Cindy, Michael (Maria), and Sonya; his sisters Sue Boyer (Lamar) in Youngstown, OH and Ann Kiddon (Steve) in Austintown, OH; and his brothers-in-law Joseph Marckx in Endwell, NY and Don Marckx (Judy) in Kansas City, MO. His oldest sister and her husband, Mary and Joe Kurty, and his parents, Anna (nee Kekelik) and Michael Olejar, predeceased him. Memorial Mass to be held Friday, February 11, 2011 11:00AM at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 7112 South 12th Street, Tacoma, WA 98465 (reception to follow).