"Tell Jack I love him." With his last lucid words, Joe Krawski, one of South Windsor, CT's, most charismatic and enduring characters, died days later.
Joe Krawski, a South Windsor farmer for decades had been a popular and gifted math teacher at South Windsor High School.
He was 86 and died at his South Windsor home Jan. 16, 2024.
His statement for "Jack" was intended for Jack Longo, 72, a former South Windsor biology and physical education teacher and athletic director. Krawski first met Longo nearly 60 years ago when he hired the then-14-year-old Longo to pick tobacco and potatoes on Krawski's South Windsor family farm.
They had remained loyal friends and for the past several years Longo had been Krawski's "go-to guy." Longo was always a phone call away, especially when it came to buying groceries, picking up medication or running an errand to an office supply store.
Longo said Krawski always hired more youths than he needed to work on his farm. Providing young people with a summer job was Krawski's priority over making money, Longo said. Krawski hired Longo and later four of his five siblings in the 1960s and '70s, he said. Longo said his three years of summer farm earnings contributed toward his college tuition.
"Right up until the end he was the Joe Krawski I knew in high school," Longo said recently. "He was sharp, witty and knew what he wanted." Krawski was born in the Wapping section of South Windsor, and was one of six siblings. He was a lifelong South Windsor resident and his family ran Krawski Farms on Foster Street in South Windsor. He was a 1955 graduate of Ellsworth High School and was named class valedictorian. He received a B.A. degree from Trinity College in Hartford and a Master's Degree in Mathematics from the University of Hartford. He loved math, but loved farming "way more," he would say. (He served as a textbook writer for Houghton Mifflin on the flow chart method for the solution of geometric proofs and algebraic word problems) At Trinity, Krawski was a popular
fraternity brother as a member of Alpha Chi Rho - Phi Psi Chapter. "He had a very unique laugh," said fellow frat bro, Gary Bogli, 87, a former South Windsor teacher.
Krawski taught math at South Windsor High School for nearly 20 years, primarily in the 1960s and '70s.
Krawski was the game announcer and unofficial "crowd control supervisor" at South Windsor High basketball games in the 1970s. Krawski described his job as breaking up fights, preventing fans of opposing teams from sneaking in the gym and keeping rowdy fans from getting onto the court during a game.
"With sold-out crowds it was a crazy time," he said years later.
Later in life Krawski grew and sold edible flower arrangements.
Krawski was opinionated, brash, kindhearted, and witty. While able to master mathematical concepts, Krawski's peculiar machine-gun- sounding laugh brought him greater recognition. He enjoyed an occasional cocktail, Krawski once said, but believed he limited his consumption to two drinks a day. Some disputed his calculations.
He was a wheelchair user for the last several years of his life.
Krawski was married at age 39, but divorced several years later. He had no children. He has three surviving sisters, Helen Gallivan, Patricia Peach and Janet Martocchio. He was predeceased by brothers Bobby and Bill Krawski. Krawski had been rushed by ambulance to Manchester Memorial Hospital the week before he died at his home. Pneumonia - along with a list of other heath ailments - caused him to be placed in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. After several days he told hospital staff to remove his intravenous lines and asked - no, demanded - to go home. He died a few hours after returning home. While hospitalized, Krawski drifted in and out of consciousness. He repeated he was tired and was ready to meet his parents. He expressed concern about his unfinished autobiography, his parent's black-and-white pictures and his South Windsor Rotary Club plaque that hung on his bedroom/living room/ dining room wall. (Krawski lived in the Wapping Mews Elderly Housing apartments).
Toward the end of his life, Krawski developed bed sores on his buttocks. Health aides constantly advised him not to sit all day. They suggested reducing the pressure on his body by changing position or lying in bed more. Krawski refused, and continued to sit up to watch television, eat and to especially work at his desk.
Days before his death a friend reminded the now- bedridden Krawski to resist lying too long on his backside. Krawski smiled, then scowled, "Duke, I don't wanna die with a pretty ass . . . "
It's unknown if he got his final wish.
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