He guarded Gen. Patton during WWII
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joseph Zimbicki guarded Army Gen. George S. Patton during World War II.
“He was a big show. He was always in a jeep with a couple of guys following him,” Mr. Zimbicki told the the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette several years ago.
He enjoyed “Patton,” the 1970 movie starring George C. Scott, but he disagreed with one major detail: “I never heard him swear.”
Mr. Zimbicki, who lives in Scott and recently turned 100 years old, was born April 17, 1918, and grew up in Heidelberg. The oldest of Veronica Kondracka and Peter Ziembicki’s 10 children, he attendedSt. Ignatius and Heidelberg public schools through eighth grade. He began working at a young age to support his nine brothers and sisters (his brother, Mike, is married toartist Kathleen Zimbicki).
He worked at Vimco Viviano Macaroni Co. in Collier and Universal-Cyclops Steel in Bridgeville. He said being shipped off to a Civilian Conservation Corps camp near Williamsport, Pa., was his salvation and introduction to Army life.
Mr. Zimbicki was drafted in 1942 and joined the 90th Infantry Division. It landed at Utah Beach in France in June 1944, two days after DDay. While digging a foxhole in a farmer’s field, he was struck by German machine gun fire. He recovered in London and was sent back to the front, where he was wounded by shrapnel. While recovering, he was placed in a military police unit guarding Gen. Patton’s plane.
“I never spoke to him, and he never spoke to me, but I saluted him a lot,” he told members of the Veterans Breakfast Club in 2015 for the Veteran Voices of Pittsburgh Oral History Project. See the nearly 40-minute interview at http://veteranvoicesofpittsburgh.com/joezimbickiMr. Zimbicki was later awarded a Purple Heart for his service.
After the war, he returned to Universal-Cyclops Steel and retired in 1983 after about 40 years. In October 1951, he married the former Alma David, and they had two daughters: Beverly Senchak (deceased) and Becky Hurst of Waxhaw, N.C. Mrs. Zimbicki died in 1983 after 31 years of marriage.
Mr. Zimbicki joined the Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department in 1965 and is its oldest life member. He has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. On April 22, he celebrated with family and friends at Nevillewood.
Secretary, reporter, waitress, actress
Hannah Wolfson’s century of life can be divided into different roles, jobs and places, including stints in England and Japan.
She was born in Bronx, N.Y.,on April 27, 1918, the second of Samuel and Mary Applebaum’s three children. Her younger brother, Dan, 92, lives in Long Island, N.Y. After high school, she went to business school, which led to a 20-year career as a secretary.In 1939, she married Milton Wolfson, and they had four sons: Larry of Ross, Mark of Murrysville, David of Los Angeles and Russell of Hermitage.
In the 1940s, they moved from Washington, D.C., to Brentwood and later to Monroeville. Mrs. Wolfson worked for a time as a waitress at Sodini’s and performed in community theater productions. In 1960, she founded Parkway Players, a troupe that staged performances at Gateway High School in Monroeville.
After a divorce, she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Point Park University at age 50. Her first job was in the public relations office of Saint Vincent College, where she wrote columns for the college newspaper. She also portrayed a mother in a campus production of “The Music Man.”
In the late 1960s, Mrs. Wolfson went to work as a reporter for The Record newspaper in NewJersey. In the early 1970s, she went to Twickenham, England, to work as a secretary and reporter covering the building trades. She took a teaching course and taught English as a second language inthe evenings.
While visiting friends in Japan, she began teaching English and stayed for nine years in Yokohama. When she left, a special plane ticket allowed her to stop and spend time in India, Egypt, Greece andother countries. She later visited Australia, too.
Mrs. Wolfson enjoys art and has done macrame, projects with dried flowers and also ceramics. Two years ago, she moved to UPMC’s Lighthouse Pointe in O’Hara, where she takes fitness classes, makes polymer clay art projects and started a newsletter for the facility. She celebrated her birthday there with nearly 40 family and friends. She has two grandsonsand one great-grandson.