World War II, Korea veteran turns 100

MOUNT CLEMENS — In 1924, Calvin Coolidge was the president, the Washington Senators claimed the World Series over the New York Giants, purchasing alcohol was a felony and William Szypa of Hamtramck was born on Aug. 31.

Now 100 years to the good since that last day of August 1924, Szypa is still at it. His life has taken him across metro Detroit and the world, saw him serve in two wars and build a family.

“It’s a long journey, I’ll tell you that,” Szypa said.

After growing up in Hamtramck, Szypa joined the U.S. Navy and served during World War II.

“During the war, I was in a destroyer escort squadron and my job was to go out and depth charge and try to kill as many German submarines as I could,” Szypa said. “They were torpedoing our ships that were going overseas with supplies. We were in the North Atlantic patrol, and we would go after these German submarines that were torpedoing our ships.”

Szypa’s service extended into the Korean War, where he served as an electrician on a training ship in the Caribbean Sea.

“We had a small carrier, a 500-foot,” Szypa said. “We took them out around Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, in that area, and we would train these pilots on landing on a small ship in the ocean. We were in the training war. These pilots had just graduated from the training schools and only knew how to land on land, and landing on land is awfully different from landing on a 500-foot runway. A land runway is probably 10,000 feet or so.”

After the war, Szypa returned to Michigan and looked for work. He tried his hand at manufacturing and other roles but found himself coming back to electrical work in due time.

“I met some friends, and they had some jobs in the Detroit electrical inspection bureau,” Szypa said. “They gave me a helping hand because I had a few odd jobs where I worked with Dodges (and) I worked on the assembly line, and I did not care for that line of work. I figured I’d change over to the kind of work that I liked.”

Szypa built a career as an electrician, working up to become the chief electrician for the city of Hamtramck and as a journeyman electrician teacher at South Lake High School in St. Clair Shores where he taught for 15 years. He married his wife Stella in 1950 and had six children together. Stella died in 2004.

“My wife died 20 years ago and time kind of passed by after that,” Szypa said. “It seemed like before that I was more sociable. I was alone after that.”

Throughout his life, Szypa has been a devoted Catholic. He regularly attends Mass in Hamtramck and has received two letters from Pope Francis congratulating Szypa on his 99th and 100th birthdays. The Pope’s letters hang on his wall.

Still the owner of a home in Hamtramck, Szypa has lived in Mount Clemens at Meadows Assisted Living for three years. It was in Mount Clemens on Sept. 3 where fellow Meadows residents were joined by Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido and Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp to celebrate Szypa’s 100 years of living. The centenarian received a quilt, blankets and numerous certificates recognizing his service and life.

The Sept. 3 celebration was not the only part of the festivities surrounding Szypa’s 100th. The Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hamtramck held a special mass on Sept. 1 for Szypa where he was blessed by the priest and a party was held on Aug. 31 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren.