Thaddeus John Bartkowski II, 67, personal-injury lawyer
He had a successful career, a son said, but he put his family first and foremost.
THADDEUS JOHN Bartkowski II, a personal-injury lawyer who lived in Villanova, died Feb. 4. He was 67.
Bartkowski grew up in Bridesburg and attended St. John Cantius Elementary School and La Salle College High School.
After graduating from Villanova University, he received his law degree from the Villanova School of Law in 1973.
Although he enjoyed being a lawyer, his family said his true passion was being a devoted husband and father.
"My father coached a lot of sports my brother and I were involved in," said son Thaddeus John Bartkowski III. Among those sports were track and ski racing.
"He had a successful career," his son said, "but he put his family first and foremost."
Bartkowski suffered from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative brain disorder, his son said.
"He extracted more joy out of life than humanly possible. He got more out of life in his 67 years than someone who could have lived 100 years."
He attended every track meet or other sporting event in which his sons took part, and he enjoyed family vacations to Walt Disney World and Lake Placid, N.Y., as well as summers at Longport on the Jersey Shore.
His son said Bartkowski also devoted about a decade of his career to representing the Philadelphia Police Department in the City Solicitor's Office.
In addition to his son, Bartkowski is survived by his wife of 42 years, Ann Carol "Bonnie"; another son, Bradley Joseph Bartkowski; his mother, Roselle Sucharski; his stepfather, Zeney Sucharski; a sister, Rosemarie Milewski; and many aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Services: Funeral Mass, 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, Villanova University, where friends may call beginning at 8 a.m. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, Conshohocken.
Donations may be made to CJD Research Fund, Box 1421, Malvern, Pa. 19355.
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