Siedlecki, Joseph C., a retired Engineering Manager at GTE in Needham, MA died April 4, 2014. Born in South Boston, he attended public schools and studied clarinet at the New England Conservatory of Music. During high school he played in the Boston High School Symphony and later played in various dance bands in the Boston area.
After high school he worked at the Boston Naval Shipyard as an Apprentice Marine Electrician. During World War II, he served in the US Army in Europe where he participated in the Battle of the Bulge, Crossing of the Rhine River, and the final campaign across Germany to the Elbe River in April of 1945. After VJ-Day, he joined the Seventh Army Special Services Group and played in the saxophone section of a 15-piece USO Show Band which toured the major cities of Germany entertaining Allied military personnel.
He married Irene Luscinski of Lynn in 1950 and together they raised 2 daughters in Needham. He graduated from Northeastern University in 1951 with a degree in Electrical Engineering with Honor and later took graduate courses at MIT.
He was employed by Sylvania which later merged with GTE. While at GTE he was the Program Manager for a Radar Simulator for the Navy, Test Director for a large scale electronic system, and Proposal Manager for many proposals to the Navy and Air Force for electronic equipment. In 1971 he was appointed an instructor at Northeastern University and taught evening classes in Electronics from 1971 to 1975. He retired from GTE as an Engineering Manager in 1980 and enjoyed many years of travel and winters in Florida with his first wife until her death in 2002.
He was a resident of Needham for 45 years, recently a resident of Quincy, a member of the Needham/Wellesley Senior Men’s Investment Group, a member of the Needham Retired Men’s Club Orchestra, and also maintained a summer home on Long Pond in Lakeville, MA.
He leaves his second wife, Hedy (Palasek); 2 daughters from his first marriage, Lorraine Fitzgerald and her husband James of Cohasset and Diane Marshall and her husband David of Maine and Hawaii. Also survived by 5 grandchildren, many nieces and nephews as well as an extended family from his second marriage.
Funeral from the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home 1305 Highland Ave. (Exit 19B off 128) NEEDHAM Tuesday, at 9 AM followed by a Funeral Mass in St. Bartholomew Church, Needham at 10 AM. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Visiting hours on Monday from 4-8PM. Interment in St. Mary Cemetery, Needham.