John L. Cihonski, Sr., of Saxonburg, formerly of Butler, passed away on Friday, June 17, 2005.

John was born March 7, 1919, in Butler, the son of the late Andrew Frank Cihonski and the late Sophie (Okarma) Cihonski and was one of 11 children.

In 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps and served as a radio operator with the rank of Master Sergeant on a Flying Fortress, B-17, out of Kimbolton, England with the 8th Air Force. His plane was shot down on Oct. 14, 1943, while on a bombing run to Schweinfort, Germany and he spent the remainder of the war as a POW in Stalag 17B which was located in Krems, Austria.

He and the former Katherine Mostowy of Bruin were married in Butler on Nov. 11, 1946. They had four children, John Jr., Carole, Richard and Daniel. John worked at Armco after leaving the service, then at Lang's Upholstery where he learned the upholstery trade. Then in 1950, he started John's Upholstering Shop, which was located on New Castle Street in Butler. He did auto work and furniture work but preferred to do auto work, especially restoring antique cars. He retired from the upholstery business after 45 years in 1994.

John was a member of St. Andrews Roman Catholic Church in Butler.

John was a member of the VFW, the UCT, the American Legion and the DAV; and he and Katherine were long time members of the Keystone Squares. They thoroughly enjoyed their square dancing. One of the high points of their square dancing was the opportunity to be in San Antonio, Texas for the square dancing national convention in 1973. John also enjoyed playing Santa for the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC), at the UCT Christmas parties and for numerous friends and relatives.

He was active in the Cub pack and Boy Scout troop at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Butler for many years. During this time, he ran the Webelo Den. He was also active in the YMCA age group swimming program where he helped coordinate and took trips with the swimmers to away meets as well as being supportive at home meets.

John is survived by his 3 sons, John Jr. and Patricia Cihonski and their son, Andrew of San Jose, CA; Richard and Anne Cihonski of Midland, TX and Daniel and Elaine Cihonski and their children, Jennifer and Diane of Harrisburg, PA; his daughter, Carole and Morris Lint and their children, Carrie, Eric, Shannon and Morgan of Tiffin, OH, and Eric and Carrie Vukich of Annandale, VA.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Katherine Mostowy Cihonski whom he married Nov. 11, 1946 and who died Nov. 17, 2002.

CIHONSKI - A memorial Mass for John Cihonski, who died June 17, 2005, will be celebrated on July 13, 2005, at 10 AM at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Butler. Interment will be in the Arlington National Cemetery on July 14, 2005 at 3 p.m.Contributions may be made to the Diabetes Foundation, 300 Penn Circle Blvd. Suite 602, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.Information also is available at www.youngfuneralhomes.com.