Obituary of John Witkowski

John “Poppy” Witkowski, 83,
passed away on Wednesday June
17, 2020 after a long battle with
PSP (Progressive Supranuclear
Palsy). He is survived by his
longtime companion, Roslyn “Peg”
Singer, son Mark (Elaine) and
daughter Deborah (Mike) Runde,
2 grandchildren Danielle (Chris)
Cook and Kristina (Anthony)
Schiavone, 6 great grandchildren,
and sisters Clara Sarafin and
Staffie Greseck. He was
predeceased by his wife Joan
Witkowski, and many siblings.
John was born in Herkimer, NY.
After graduation, he joined the Marine Corp. After the Marines, he moved to
Newark, NY, where he and Joan raised their family and built log cabin houses. He
then moved to Tucson AZ. John was a carpenter at heart, and built many houses
along the way in NY, AZ and even one in CA. Anyone on one of his jobs always
knew he was there because he always whistled while he worked. After retirement,
he volunteered at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church on the maintenance crew
for many years. He also enjoyed watching all types of sports: especially the Arizona
Cardinals, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also enjoyed
going to the casinos, doing jigsaw puzzles, and decorating for Christmas with as
many lights as humanly possible. He loved dancing the polka and later, doing the
chicken dance with his grand daughters. He had many travel adventures including
riding the mules to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for his 70th birthday, wearing
dreadlocks in Jamaica, several cruises, and cross country road trips.
Due to COVID, services will be July 24th @ 10:00am @ Our Mother of Sorrows
Catholic Church located at 1800 S Kolb Rd in Tucson. Burial will be at All Faiths
immediately following service. Due to covid, there cannot be a luncheon following.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to CurePSP at 1216 Broadway, 2nd Floor,
New York, NY. 10001 or online at psp.org/iwanttohelp/ways-to-give , or to a charity of
your choice.