In Memoriam Deacon Mike Misulia

THANK YOU: We want to express our heartfelt thanks & appreciation for the kindness and outpouring of support for our family at the time of Dad’s passing. Your love for Dad was a great testament to the faith of the St. Peter’s community which he loved so much. Special thanks to Fr Jason, the staff, the Knights of Columbus and the Ladies’ Club for extraordinary care and service. God Bless You All.
Sincerely,
The Misulia Family

Rev. Mr. Michael George Misulia Sr. died peacefully on Sunday morning, October 30, 2011, at the home of one of his sons near Libertytown, Maryland. He was 93 years of age.

“Mike” was born in New York City, January 26, 1918, the son of George and Anelia Misulia, who had immigrated separately to the United States from Russia and the Ukraine as teenagers with hardly more than their suitcases and the clothes they were wearing. They later met and were married in New York.

Mike and his brother Dan grew up living over their parent’s grocery store in Brooklyn where he played stick ball in the streets, swam in the East River dodging tugboats, and helped deliver sandwiches to the factory workers near the Brooklyn Navy Yards. During the Great Depression, his father became known as “Brooklyn’s Sandwich King.” While often unable to help Mike with his high school homework, his father would recruit older students off the street as tutors, offering them a good meal in payment. Although Mike offered to stay home and help run the store, his father insisted he go to college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, where he played baseball and football while earning his degree in Civil Engineering. During his freshman year he met the love of his life, Josephine, “Jo,” Varga at a New Year’s Eve dance. They were happily married for 48 years until her passing in 1988.

Mr. Misulia has three surviving sons, Michael G. Misulia, Jr. of Libertytown, Andrew G. Misulia, M.D. who resides in Georgia and George P. Misulia of Mt. Airy. In addition, Mr. Misulia has seven grandsons.

His work as a topographic engineer with the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and Army Map Service enabled Mike to participate in some of the most consequential projects of his time, all done from his office in Maryland: mapping the Aleutian Islands to repel the Japanese invasion in WWII, preparation of coastal charts for the Normandy Invasion of Europe, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, General Douglas MacArthur’s “return” invasion of the Philippines, as well as later coastal charts in the Korean War for MacArthur’s landing at Inchon. Then came the space race and Mike became involved in mapping the surface of the moon for the lunar landing in July 1969. Mike said often that he was very fortunate to have worked on so many interesting and historically significant projects. For his service to his country, in 1966 he was awarded the Decoration for Meritorious Civilian Service by the U.S. Department of the Army, the Army’s highest civilian award presented to civilian employees. After 33 years of service to his country, he retired in 1974.
Mike began then a second career as an ordained Deacon of the Catholic Church, serving at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Libertytown for the past 33 years. “Deacon Mike” was well known and loved in his local community, having resided at Cedar Brook Farm on Daysville Road, near Libertytown since 1958. He was a founding director of the Libertytown Fire Department and has written a history of Libertytown. He served as a chaplain to the Knights of Columbus, was a member of the Holy Name Society and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He and his wife, Jo, helped start the Thrift Shop on Main Street.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the "St. Peter's Catholic Church Building Fund," Box 278, Libertytown, MD, 21762.

As originally published on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

*Video courtesy of Doug Jackson