Obituary: John Kozar Sr., 100, Of Norwalk

Information via Magner Funeral Home

John J. Kozar Sr., a lifelong resident of Norwalk, passed away Saturday, February 5, 2022, at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, where he had received wonderful care in the hospice unit after moving to MA in early August of 2021.

Mr. Kozar, beloved father of John J. Kozar, Jr. and daughter, Donna K. Sullivan, loving grandfather to Jesse John Kozar, also of Belmont, Ma, father-in-law to Lawrence Sullivan and daughter-in-law, Laura, and loving uncle to nieces and nephews, friend and neighbor to a wonderful community in Norwalk, was the loving and devoted husband of Celeste, who passed away in 2006.

Mr. Kozar was the last of his twelve siblings to survive.

Born in NYC, NY, in April 1921, Mr. Kozar and his family moved to Norwalk when he was a young child. He attended parochial and public schools until he joined the Connecticut National Guard in which he served before joining the US Marine Corp in 1941.

He was a part of the First Marine Landing at Guadalcanal and served his entire four years of service overseas in the Pacific campaigns of WW2. He was a very proud Marine not, he said, because of the battles, but because of the intense loyalty and camaraderie of those with whom he served. One of his favorite expressions was "Semper Fi."

He married Celeste Gilbertie on June 30, 1945 and was honorably discharged from the Marine Corp, in 1946. Under the GI Bill he was trained as a master carpenter and spent his career with Emerson Industries, doing home additions from Connecticut to Cape Cod to New York.

After retiring he was always willing to help out someone who needed help with a carpentry issue. He built the home he shared with his family on Holiday Drive, Norwalk. Mr. Kozar will be very much missed by all who loved him. Semper Fidelis.

A service will be held on Friday, February 11, 2022, at 12 noon, at the Magner Funeral Home 12 Mott Ave Norwalk, CT. Burial will follow at St. John’s Cemetery, 223 Richards Ave. Norwalk, CT.