Chester J. Szablak

Chester J. Szablak, Sr., 87, a resident of the Christian Hill neighborhood in the city died Saturday July 18, 2015 at Lowell General Hospital following a period of declining health. He was the beloved husband of Dolores A. "Dolly" (Berke) Szablak of Lowell, with whom he would have celebrated 60 years of marriage in November.

Chet was born in Clinton, MA on July 20, 1927, a son of the late Stanislaw and Anastasia (Dompkowski) Szablak.

His family moved to Lowell when he was a young boy. He graduated from St. Stanislaus School and he went to Lowell High School where he was an outstanding football player.

He graduated from Lowell High School in 1944 at 16 years old. A month later he turned 17 as World War II was still occurring and he joined the United States Navy, V-6, and was aboard the LST 208 ship which transported the Chinese Nationalists to fight the Chinese Communists in Manchuria. Chet was in the Navy for more than 11 months during which time World War II ended. For his time in the Navy, he received the World War II Victory Medal.

When the Korean War started, Chet was drafted into the United States Army, in the 40th division of California. As a Staff Sergeant he was in charge of the 105 Howitzers in Battery C.
Chet received numerous medals for his time in the Army, including the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), the Korean Services Medal with the Bronze Service Star and the United Nations Service Medal.

Returning to Lowell he worked at the American Hide and Leather Company. After it closing, he went on to work in Woburn, MA at Murphy's Leather Company. He then joined the City of Lowell as a Firefighter, working 34 years until he retired as a Captain.

Chet was a member of the Lowell Retired Firefighters Association.

In 2008, because of his football experience, he was honored to be inducted into the Lowell High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Chet loved to go dancing, visit the casinos, both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, and enjoyed taking small trips with his wife, Dolly, to Atlantic City, NJ and Cape Cod. His favorite pastime was going to the various sporting events his grandchildren participated in to cheer them on.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his two sons, Chester J. Szablak, Jr. and his wife, Linda (Goyette) of Tyngsboro, Stephen Szablak and his wife, Pamela (Campbell) of Lowell; one daughter, Susan Szablak of Lowell; his grandchildren, Lauren, Michael, Amy, James and Anne Szablak; a niece, Mary (Szablak) Lawlor, her husband, Steve and their children in Ballston Spa, NY; a brother-in-law, Robert Wilcox of Whitensville, MA; many nieces, nephews and dear friends. He was predeceased by his brothers, Peter, Walter and Stanley Szablak.