Donald Frank Kassik

Notes:

Married Tomako KOBAYASHI and had one daughter, Mary Jo, who married Jesse FOUNTAIN and they have a son, J.E. (Milligan, p 328).

SFC (Retired) Donald Frank Kassik

March 25, 1928 - January 26, 2013

Funeral service for SFC (Retired) Donald Frank Kassik, 84, Lawton will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 29, 2013 in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel.

Sergeant Kassik passed away Saturday, January 26, 2013 in Lawton with his family by his side.
Burial with full military honors will be in the Post Cemetery, Fort Sill.

The family will greet friends from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm prior to the funeral at the funeral home.
He was born March 25, 1928 in Geneva, Nebraska to Frank William Kassik Sr. and Emma Alice Suda. He grew up in Milligan, Nebraska and farmed from 1940 '96 1949, he then worked road construction up until he was drafted into the Army in 1951. He served in Japan twice, Vietnam twice, Germany and Korea. While on his first tour in Japan he met Nori Kobayashi, who worked for the 94th Engineer Maintenance Company, the two dated and eventually married on May 12, 1953 in Yokohama, Japan. On March 8, 1954 they welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Mary Jo. In 1957, while in Hanau, Germany, he completed and received his G.E.D. He retired September 1971 after 20 years of service.

After his retirement he volunteered at Center for Creative Living and McMahon-Tomlinson Nursing Center. He loved gardening and working with his hands, he loved helping his wife Nori's widowed friends with carpentry, plumbing and whatever else they needed; his friends called him "Mr. Fix". He was a lifetime member of The Retired Enlisted Association, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 56, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 751, Korean War Veterans Chapter 319, Veterans of Foreign Wars Chapter 5263, American Legion Post 29 and The 591st Engineer Maintenance Company. He received numerous awards including: A Certificate of Appreciation for Retirement from General Westmoreland and President Richard Nixon, The Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious Achievement in The Republic of Vietnam and The Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Achievement in Ground Operations Against Hostile Forces.

Survivors include his wife, Nori of the home; his daughter Mary Jo Kassik Fountain and granddaughter Rebekah E. Fountain of Huntsville, Alabama; two brothers, Frank (Margaret) William Kassik Jr. and Robert (Marjorie) Ray Kassik of Milligan, Nebraska, as well as numerous cousins, nieces and nephews in Nebraska. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Eleanor Matthies.

(Courtesy of Dennis Belohlavy)