Jerzy Dedejczyk

With heavy hearts, we announce that Jerzy Bogdan Dedejczyk of Richmond Heights, Ohio, passed away calmly in his home surrounded by his loved ones on the afternoon of Sunday, April 6th 2025, after a brave and vigorous seven month battle with cancer.

Jerzy “Bogdan” Dedejczyk was born on Sunday, July 26th, 1942 to loving parents, Olga and Władysław “Wally” Dedejczyk in Pruszków, Poland. Bogdan was Olga and Wally’s first child together, creating the foundation for their family which was soon to grow. Bogdan had two older half brothers from his father, Zbyszek and Tolek, and younger sisters, Ewa and Asia (72). Bogdan and his family frequently moved around the country whilst maintaining a strong family-oriented bond.

In 1962, at the age of just 19, Bogdan began to serve his required two years of military service, beginning as a shoveler with his fellow comrades in order to bury a wire that connected communication towers to control centers inside the stations.

In 1962-1964, Bogdan created great bonds with men he had met while in the service. His generous and welcoming personality made it easy to get along with those he frequently worked with. Even doing as much as to deliberately get in trouble with his lieutenant in order to spend Christmas in the holding cell with his friends. By the time he had retired from service, Bogdan’s parents and sister had moved for the last time, settling in a small village called Skwierzyna. Finally on his own, Bogdan was a grown adult. He had acquired a sales job about an hour away from his family in a town called Krosno Odrańskie. In June of 1968, Bogdan had moved into an apartment across the hall from a gorgeous young woman by the name of Ela. Over the next few months, Bogdan and Ela grew very fond of each other, marrying the following June. In November of 1969, the loving newly weds welcomed their first son, Grzegorz (Greg). A year later they had a baby girl named Ewa (Bajka), named after his late younger sister, Ewa, who had died in childhood.

For the next several years, they lived and worked in Skwierzyna, working primarily as a bookkeeper to provide for his family. In free time, Bogdan enjoyed picking wild mushrooms alongside his wife. In addition to spending quality time with his family, Bogdan enjoyed his own personal company, often found reading, watching tv, tending to the garden, and woodwork.

In 1990, Bogdan, Elizabeth, and both kids immigrated to USA to build a happier and safer new life, reuniting with some of Ela’s family that had previously moved to the country. Now with more land, Bogdan was able to expand his love for cultivation past the walls of his old community garden in Skwierzyna. After many vigorous years of working on industrial embroidery machines alongside his wife Ela, Bogdan was able to buy the family’s first house in South Euclid, later upgrading in size to a ranch in Richmond Heights. With a big yard and a bigger motivation to keep moving, Bogdan spent most his free time in the spring, summer and early fall practicing woodworking and growing delicious tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries and various herbs. His attitude and determination eventually became contagious onto his children and grandchildren, most of whom lived next door and often helped and bonded with him over everyday activities.

The last few years became rather challenging with his and his wife’s health issues, though neither ever complained. Unfortunately after Elizabeth’s unexpected passing last March, his health declined fast. Though his time with us has sadly came to the end, he has finally begun his journey beyond Earth as he has now reunited with his parents, older brothers, younger sister, and only love Ela. We will miss them apart, we will miss them together, but no matter what, they will always stay in our hearts. Bogdan is survived by his younger sister Asia (Ryszard), son Greg (Vincenza), Vincenza’s daughter Zoe, daughter Bajka (Danny), granddaughters Patrycia and Juliana, grandsons Danilo and Marco, great granddaughter Emilia, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Z głębokim żalem i bólem przyjęłam wiadomość o śmierci mojego brata Bogdana Jerzego. Chociaż na pierwsze imię miał Jerzy bo ksiadz w czasie chrztu tak zadecydował to dla mnie na zawsze pozostanie Bogdanem. Jego życzliwość na zawsze pozostaną w mojej pamięci.

Chęć niesienia pomocy innym były nieodłączną cechą jego osobowości. Był ogromnym wsparciem dla swojej Rodziny z którą wyjechał przed wieloma laty do USA. Tam pracował że swoimi dziećmi i wychowywał wnuki razem z żoną Elżbietą. Jego odejście pozostawiło w naszych sercach ogromną pustkę. Będziemy zawsze o nim pamiętać z czułością.Dzisiaj jest nam bardzo smutno ale zawsze będę wspominać Go jako starszego Brata który patrzył na mnie z wyrozumiałością gdyż dzieliła nas spora różnica wieku. DZIĘKUJĘ za wszystkie wspólne chwilę które przeżyliśmy razem.

Siostra Asia z Rodziną.

With deep regret and pain, I accepted the news of the death of my brother Bogdan Jerzy. Although his first name was Jerzy because the priest decided at the time of baptism, he would always remain Bogdan for me. His kindness will always remain in my memory.

His desire to help others was inherent in his personality. He was a huge support for his family with whom he left for the USA many years ago. There he worked with his children and raised grandchildren together with his wife Elżbieta. His departure left a huge emptiness in our hearts. We will always remember him with tenderness. Today we are very sad, but I will always remember him as an older brother who looked at me with understanding because we were separated by a large age difference. THANK YOU for all the moments together that we lived together.

Sister Asia with her family.

Friends may call Sunday at THE FIORITTO FUNERAL HOME, 5236 MAYFIELD RD, LYNDHURST (E OF RICHMOND RD) 2-4 PM.