OBIT: Paul MATUSKY, 2005, of interest in Blair County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Sharon Miller Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ _______________________________________________ PAUL MATUSKY Paul Matusky, who was taken captive and held in a German POW camp during World War II and later served as an Assistant Principal of North Penn High School, died Monday, February 7, 2005 at his home in Lansdale at age 79, surrounded by family members. Born to a Polish-American family in the Western Pennsylvania coal town of Sykesville on July 22, 1925, Matusky grew up during the depression. After graduating from high school, he worked briefly in the coal mines until he was old enough to volunteer to fight in World War II. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp where he served as a waist gunner on a B-24. Stationed at Wendling Air Base in England, he flew four voluntary missions with an unfamiliar crew before his own crew was shot down on Valentine's Day, February 14, 1945 on their first mission - a bombing run to Magdeburg, Germany to locate and damage the V-2 rockets which had terrorized London during the war. When the plane took anti-aircraft fire, its hydraulic and intercom systems were knocked out. Matusky freed the tail gunner from a sealed perch in the back of the plane by inching past open bomb bay doors on a steel girder to manually open the back door. Thanks to that effort, Matusky and the rest of the crew managed to safely parachute from the plane, with the exception of the flight engineer who broke his leg upon impact. After being taken prisoner by Wehrmacht soldiers, the crew was made to march throughout Germany for weeks in retreat from the advancing Allied Armies to Moosberg Prisoner of War Camp near Munich. When his German captors threatened to leave the crew's injured flight engineer behind, Matusky refused to march on without him. Even though at age 19 he was the smallest and the youngest member of the crew, Matusky convinced the others to build a makeshift stretcher and carry the injured man. All members of the crew survived and were liberated from Moosberg on April 29, 1945 by General George Patton's Third Army, in which his brother Zig served at the time of the liberation. Matusky's capture was unknown to his family until his liberation. After the war, Matusky married the former Adeline DeChurch. Together, they moved to State College in the early 1950s. With Adeline working at a college snack bar and help from the G.I. Bill of Rights, Matusky became the first member of either his or his wife's family to attend and graduate from college. He earned a Bachelors of Education in 1953 and went on to earn a Masters of Education in 1955 from Penn State University. After graduation, Matusky's educational career took him across the Commonwealth. His first teaching job was as a civics teacher in Warriors Mark, which had a graduating class of only 18 students. When Warriors Mark consolidated with Tyrone Area School District, Matusky taught high school civics and history there, before working as a guidance counselor. Later he was named Assistant Principal of Tyrone Area High School, the first Catholic to hold any administrative position in that school district. In 1967, Matusky joined The Pennsylvania Department of Education. Working out of Harrisburg and Clarion, he visited, evaluated and improved schools across the Commonwealth. In 1969, he became an Assistant Principal of North Penn High School in Lansdale, which at the time had a graduating class of over 800 students. He held that position nearly until his retirement, after which he pursued his passion for gardening and love of bicycling. Matusky was a member of St. Stanislaus Parish in Lansdale and maintained residences in Lansdale as well as Dubois. Throughout his life he had been active in civic and educational organizations, including Little League Baseball, the Lion's Club and the American Legion. He served as Post Commander for the Tyrone Area American Legion and belonged to the Lansdale American Legion. He was named Tyrone Lion's Club Man of the Year during the 1960s. He was a past President of the Montgomery County Principals Association and a recipient of the National Schoolman's Award from The Freedom's Foundation, in Valley Forge. Matusky is survived by his wife Adeline and their four children, Paula Shroeder and her husband Kurt of St. Paul, Minn.; Patrick Matusky and his wife Denise of Vorhees, NJ; Mary Ann Nagel and her husband John of Lansdale and Gregory Matusky and his wife Judy of Ardmore, as well as nine grandchildren: Joshua Shroeder, a recent graduate of Princeton University, Robert and Jenifer Nagel, Jonathan, Megan and Jessica Matusky and Melissa, Matthew and Mackenzie Matusky. He was preceded in death by four brothers and one sister. Mr. Matusky's family will receive friends and relatives Wednesday eve, February 9 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Simcox-McIlvaine Funeral Home, 532 E. Main St., Lansdale, Pa. A Mass of Christian burial will be held Thursday morning, February 10 at 10 a.m. at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, Main St. and Lansdale Ave., Lansdale. He will be interred at Assumption Cemetery in Sykesville, PA on Friday morning, February 11 at 10 a.m. Arrangements by Simcox-McIlvaine Funeral, Lansdale, PA. Tyrone Daily Herald, February 9, 2005