Stanley J. Wasilewski, or "Wassy" or "Grandpa" or "Uncle Wassy", passed away on May 1, 2024 at the age of 94. Most recently, he lived in Shrewsbury, and prior to that he lived in Long Beach Township, and Carteret, NJ.   Stanley leaves behind the love of his life, Louise, who he affectionately always called "Babe" and was married to for 69 years.  He also leaves his beloved children, Janet Keating and her husband Paul, Stan Wasilewski and his wife Tina, Lynn Omslaer and her husband Keith, and Kathy Yevchak and her husband Mike, as well as a daughter, "Baby Louise" who passed away in 1967 shortly after her birth. Stanley was extremely proud of, and couldn't get enough of, his grandchildren, Justin & Ashley, Julia & Dave, Connor & Nicole, Jack, Max, Parker, Ryan, Sophie, Sarah, and Adam.   He and Louise dedicated many hours attending as many activities as they could for the grandchildren.  Until very recently, Stanley kept a monthly chart of calls with each grandchild, and a month rarely went by without each grandchild hearing from him.   Stanley also leaves behind many beloved nephews, nieces, and dear friends, along with several wonderful aides who took great care of him during his final year.

Stanley was born on December 18, 1929 in Carteret, N.J. He was the son of Walenty and Josephine Wasilewski, who predeceased him, along with his brother Walter. He attended Holy Family Grammar School, Carteret, N.J.   He often shared the riddle that he was one of the only people he knew who attended high school for six years and never failed a grade.   At age 11, Stanley started at Carteret High School, and two years later his parents moved him to St. Mary's High School in Perth Amboy where he began as a freshman, graduating in 1947.  He took great pride in his hometown of Carteret, including the fact that Joe "Ducky" Medwick was from Carteret, who if you do not know, was the last MLB player in the National League to win the triple crown.   Stanley also followed the New York Giants, and attended their 1987 Superbowl win at the Rose Bowl with Louise.

Stanley's Roman Catholic faith was an important part of his life, having been a member of Holy Family Church in Carteret (now, Divine Mercy Parish), then later St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Brant Beach, N.J.  The "Almighty" seemed to watch out for Stanley, and help him through various health issues over the years.   Stanley's favorite Pope was Saint John Paul II, because he was the first Polish pope.   He brought some of his children to see Pope John Paul II's procession through New York City in 1979 and then later he and Louise shook the Pope's hand when he arrived at Newark Airport in 1995. Stanley was an avid coin and stamp collector, and amassed a large collection of Pope John Paul II stamps from around the world.

Stanley served in the United States Navy from 1948 to 1952.   When he was home for the 1950 Christmas holidays, a monumental event occurred. On December 31, 1950, Stanley accompanied his best friend to pick up his date for the evening. It turned out that the younger sister of his friend's date, was his future wife Louise.  Stanley described it as love at first sight, and in his journal he said, "That was the beginning of the rest of my life". He came back the next day to take Louise out on their first date.  Stanley and Louise were married on September 5, 1954 at Holy Family Church.

Words cannot adequately explain the enormous dedication and love between Stanley and Louise.   Once Stanley married Louise, it seemed that he was determined to create a large, loving family, that would long outlive him for generations. And, that he did!   He truly was the greatest example of a loving husband, dedicated father, mentor and leader.   He was far ahead of his time, in encouraging his daughters - as equal to his son - to attend the best colleges, further their careers, and make the most out of this great life. Later, he did the same for his grandchildren, setting high expectations, and glowing with pride over every accomplishment.  "You have to call Grandpa!" about every minor or major achievement, was a regular directive by Janet, Stan, Lynn and Kathy to their children.

Also during his time at Pearl Harbor, Stanley played on the Naval Base's basketball team.   He claims that he was recruited for the team due to his height (at the time about 6'4'"), and it worked out well for him as the athletes used the "good chow line".  After the U.S. Navy, Stanley took advantage of the G.I. Bill and started taking classes at Rutgers University.  He credited his grandmother giving him money to purchase his first car, as one of the main reasons he finished college, graduating Rutgers University in 1958.   She passed away before he had the chance to pay her back. But we think he paid it forward by sending all four of his children to the best universities they could get into. Stanley showed his pride in education by starting a "college pennant" wall at their home on Long Beach Island.   The wall has been added to continuously over the years, to include pennants from his grandchildrens' colleges and universities.

For his career, Stanley was a Certified Public Accountant, and just recently retired at the age of 90.   He worked in both public accounting and in private industry as a controller before becoming a partner in Fersko, Wasilewski & Co in 1968. He left there to start his own firm in 1983, first known as S. J. Wasilewski & Co. and later Wasilewski & Keating. Work was a joy to him, never a chore, and he loved assisting his clients with their accounting needs.

Stanley was a fan of letter writing and "If I did not tell you, you would never know" is a line of his. One of his most famous and successful letter-writing stories, occurred in 1976 when he wrote to the owner of the NY Giants, Wellington Mara, and expressed dissatisfaction about the way that season tickets were allotted to existing season ticket holders for the new 1976 Giants Stadium.   The result was a personal meeting with Wellington Mara where Stanley was presented with two season tickets for the new stadium, which remain in Stanley's family until this day.

Speaking of family, this was the most important thing to Stanley. An immeasurable amount of time was spent over the years planning for and celebrating family holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, and our infamous family reunions on Long Beach Island.   He became a pro at hosting Family Bingo nights. Under his leadership, the song "Shout" became a mandatory wedding reception song. There are many sayings that Stanley repeated often, including " Na Zdrowie", "Ashpet" , "To Your Health", and "This is the best of all possible worlds!" among others.

There is so much to say and add in, but instead of adding pages and pages about Stanley's amazing, blessed and wonderful life, we will end with this list of things we dearly loved and will forever remember about him: little brown envelopes, oplatek, Crown Royal, The Honeymooners, paper clips, staplers, black coffee, recliners, adding machine, Lorna Dunes, pickled herring, cashews, Doritos (red only!), shrimp cocktail, and finally …. "It's a great life!"   Stanley's sure was, and he will be greatly missed.

Although tickets were always purchased for large lottery jackpots, Stanley did not end up winning the NJ lottery even though he had a plan laid out for how he would spend it, with half going to charity.   However, we think he created his own lottery winnings over his lifetime, encompassing his beloved family, and especially his wife Louise. One of his final oft-repeated requests, was for his children "to take care of your mother."

Visitation will be held for Stanley J. Wasilewski on Friday, May 3 from 4pm to 7pm at the Synowiecki Funeral Home, 56 Carteret Ave, Carteret, N.J.   A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, May 4 at 10am at Divine Mercy Parish, with burial following at St. Gertrude's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Alternatives Inc. in Stanley's memory.  In addition, what we think he would really have loved, is for you go visit someone at a nursing home or assisted living place who does not get many visitors. Or maybe write a letter to someone you have been thinking about. Or perhaps, pour yourself a glass of Crown Royal on the rocks, sip and enjoy, and tell the people you love, how much you love them.