Chris Halackna, 90, died January 25th in hospice care at his home at 460 Falls Avenue in Neshannock Township. Born on September 13th, 1918, on the farm below, he was the only child of Lewis and Petrone (Bagurskas) Halackna.
Chris attended Walmo School on Maitland Lane until he quit in 4th grade to help his widowed mother survive the Depression. As a young boy, he found employment, driving a horse-drawn delivery wagon for a local feed store. As a teenager, he become a certified auto mechanic, working on various Ford Model As & Ts, and throughout his adult life, he always owned at least one Ford car or truck.
Chris worked at the Blair Strip Mill when he was drafted into World War II. After boot camp at Camp Hood in TX, he served in Patton's 7th Army in Europe in various capacities including jeep mechanic, company barber, and finally, a tank gunner in the 20th Armored Division. His tour of duty included France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Near the end of WWII he witnessed the liberation of Dachau, a concentration camp in Germany, the sights of which he rarely spoke about but never forgot. An event he did share with his family was the Army takeover of Hitler's prized retreat, The Berghof, located above Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps. He and his fellow GI s toasted Germany's surrender and the end of tyranny with champagne found in the estate's vast wine cellars
After several more months in Europe, performing what he called 'peace keeping missions,' Chris returned to New Castle to finish building the present family home. He shortly thereafter welcomed his 'war bride,' Jean (nee Eugenia Grincevicius) whom he had met at a Lithuanian dance in Scotland.
He and Jean then raised and educated three children, Ronald of New Castle, Raymond of Upper St. Clair, PA, and Linda Rippin of Laguna Niguel, CA. He began a long career as a maintenance engineer with Rockwell's Spring Division, was a member of the United Steelworkers' Union, and retired in the early 1980s.
Chris was preceded in death by his wife this past summer, and an infant daughter, Sandra Jean, in 1958. His is survived by his three children and his grandchildren, Joseph Christopher and Lindsay Jean Halackna of Upper St. Clair, PA, Eric Daniel Rippin of Los Angeles CA, and McKenna Jean Rippin of Laguna Niguel, CA.
He wanted his cause of death to be known: 'Tell them I just got too damn old.' Friends, neighbors and health care workers may call this Saturday, February 7th, between 12:30 & 2:30 p.m. at the J. Bradley McGonigle Funeral Home and Crematory, 111 W. Falls Street. A Catholic blessing will be conducted at 2:30 p.m. in the funeral home by the Rev. James Downs