Pietrzak M.D., Julius

Julius Pietrzak M.D. passed peacefully May 8, 2012, at 7 a.m. of natural causes in his Tucson, Ariz., home according to his wishes and surrounded by his immediate family and loved ones.

Julius was born in Budzislaw Koscielny, Poland, on Aug. 13, 1923, to Dr. Natalia Knopf and Stanislaw Pietrzak Ph.D., schoolteacher of history in Poznan. Because of Natalia's demanding life as a physician, she started self-financed studies at the university in Wilno, Poland. Julius moved to Budzislaw and was raised by his beloved two aunts and a priest uncle. After finishing middle school Julius continued his education in Torun, Poland, where he was one of the best students. At the beginning of the II World War his mother and three of his sisters were deported by the Russians to Siberia. His father, Stanis?aw, was killed by the Germans during his stay in a hospital. When Julius was 17 years old, he was sent as a forced laborer to a farm near Dresden, Germany. Fortunately he managed to escape from the farm thanks to his already fluent German. He took a train and went via Germany and Austria up to Italian border. He made a journey on foot across the Dolomites and was captured as a spy by Italian mountain patrols. After intervention of an influential Italian family Julius was released from prison.

There he was under the sponsorship/tutelage of Il Signore La Paglia of the Collegio Boccarini. Amiable and charming, Julius endeared himself to many and was quickly “adopted” by families of stature in the country.

Upon the liberation of Italy Julius joined Allied Forces Intelligence Corps and was stationed in Italy. In the meantime Julius found that his mother and three sisters survived the war and deportation to Siberia and lived in Lebanon. He decided to visit them. On the way to the Middle East he stopped in Egypt, where he met his wife to be, Zofia Strzelec. He was so enchanted by Zofia that he visited her again in Lebanon and later took her from Lebanon to Italy.

As a benefit of allied service, he, Zofia and many of his Polish war colleagues were given scholarships to attend medical school at the University of Bologna. Julius and Zofia married in 1946 in Surrey, England, after which time she ceased her studies. Upon his graduation in 1951, he joined Zofia and their five-month-old daughter, Eva, in London for a short time before immigrating to the U.S.A.

Julius began his fruitful medical career as an intern in 1952 at Illinois Central Hospital, where his son, Michael, was born. He transitioned to train and work in psychiatry at the State Mental Institution in Independence, Iowa. However, he decided he preferred greater clinical challenges and he enrolled in a general practice residency (the first of its kind) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He established his own medical practice in 1958 and over the years he became among the most beloved physicians in the community by patients and colleagues alike, practicing in Cedar Rapids until 1985. After this, Julius joined his wife in Tucson and continued to practice medicine until he was 85 years old.

The family Pietrzak was joined in the USA by lifelong friends who came from the University of Bologna and became extended family along with the extended Polish community in Chicago. The Ferrari's, Montessi's, Kowaliczko's, Kosieradzki's, Tarzynski's, Herse's, Shanzer's, Bronny's, Termion's, Matosek's and Botler's were a few of his many adopted family members.

Julius will be remembered as a healer with the gentlest touch, a strong man who could lift two women over his head, a devoted father and a man of benevolent charm and humor, with many stories to tell in several languages.

Julius' wife died in September 2011.

He is survived by his children: Eva Stefenson of Los Angeles and New York City; Dr. Michael Pietrzak of Vail, Colo., and daughter-in-law, Dr. Lisa Muncy; his sister, Barbara Hulanicka Ph.D., of Wroclaw, Poland; grandchildren: Audrey Stefenson of Washington, D.C., Landis and Darek Pietrzak of Vail, Colo.; and his beloved friend and caregiver, Ingrid McHugh.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial was held at 5 p.m. May 10 at St. Cyril Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz. A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. June 2 at the Cedar Memorial Family Center and Library in Cedar Rapids.

Published May 20, 2012 in The Gazette